An aide to California Congressman Mike Honda, Ed Potosnak of Franklin Twp. this week filed to run against U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton) in the 7th Congressional District.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Potosnak was a chemistry teacher at Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School for a decade, and for the past several years has worked for Honda in Washington, D.C. as an Albert Einstein Fellow.
Potosnak later isssued a statement, reprinted below.
“I am running for Congress because the citizens in New Jersey’s 7th District need real world experience and common sense solutions to overcome the challenges we face. A leader who puts our families first, not political or special interests.
“As a small business owner, teacher and scientist, I have experienced firsthand the struggles many New Jersey families are having in this economy — double-digit unemployment, anxiety over whether you will have a job tomorrow, how will you pay for healthcare for your family — many just one paycheck away from losing their home. It is time to use practical experience to provide solutions to our problems. It is time to forge a path to yes on the road to recovery and relief.
“I am not a career politician. I don’t think like a career politician. You know, it is said that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. If we keep electing career politicians who worry more about their next political contribution than about contributing to the well-being of New Jersey families, then we will keep getting the same old results.
“New Jerseyans are fed up with Republicans in Congress just voting ‘No’ because their party bosses tell them to instead of offering solutions that will help New Jersey families. That is not how I run my business or teach our children. I have always looked for solutions and worked for results. That is how I will represent New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District.
“In these challenging times, it is time for new results. It is time we invest in small business and innovation. It is time to create jobs instead of bonuses. It is time for those in Washington to fight for the interests of Main Street instead of special interests of Wall Street — jobs, education, healthcare, a future of opportunity. I will bring new perspective and new ideas to Washington. I will fight for Main Street with common sense, putting the intersts of the taxpayers of this District first.”
Republican allies of Lance’s later noted gleefully that Potosnak’s hometown, Franlkin Twp., isn’t in the 7th Congressional District.
