Two Republicans will formally announce campaigns for Congress this evening against Democratic incumbents: John Runyan, a retired NFL star who played for the Philadelphia Eagles, is challenging freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill), and Diane Gooch, a millionaire philanthropist and newspaper publisher, is taking on eleven-term U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch).
The 36-year-old Runyan, who retired from the NFL in January, has cleared the field for the GOP nod after securing organization lines in Burlington, Camden and Ocean counties. Adler is the first Democrat to win the seat since 1884, and GOP Gov. Christopher Christie won the third district by 21 percentage points last November. This is a district where Republicans can pick up a House seat.
The race against Pallone, the chairman of a powerful House subcommittee dealing with health care reform, is tougher for the GOP. Pallone is popular among independents in GOP-leaning Monmouth County, and it’s been years since his winning percentage has dipped below 60%. Pallone has a $4 million war chest, but Gooch and her husband, Wall Street financier Mickey Gooch, have Jon Corzine-like money. Gooch has reportedly agreed to spend $2 million against Pallone, but self-funders often understate the amount they are willing to spend. Christie won the sixth district by five percentage points.
Gooch is the favorite to win the GOP nomination against former Monmouth County Freeholder Anna Little, Rev. Shannon Wright, and others.
The problem for Pallone is that Gooch could force him to spend his war chest, putting the veteran congressman is a tougher cash position if a U.S. Senate seat opens up in the near future.
