Dennis Shulman for U.S. Congress: Sensible Leadership for New Jersey’s 5th District

October 27th, 2008

Monday, October 27, 2008
By BILL WICHERT

HACKETTSTOWN | Friday morning a truck barreling on Route 46 blared its horn as Nancy Brown and two other women waved signs of support for re-electing U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett.

“He’s a good congressman,” Brown said. “He votes according to what he feels is right, not what’s politically correct. He’s an independent thinker.”

Standing a little farther down the road, Pat Brady was holding a different type of sign. Her sign showed President George W. Bush treating Garrett like a puppet and included the words, “I pull the strings. He dances!”

Brady was one of nine people campaigning for Garrett’s opponent in the Nov. 4 election, Dennis Shulman.

“I’m here because I believe Scott Garrett votes against the interests of the people of the 5th District,” Brady said.

As Garrett, R-Warren, and Shulman, a Democrat, prepared for a political debate inside the radio station where the supporters were standing, the dueling campaigns were another indication the political season had arrived in Warren County.

From the Warren County Farmers’ Fair over the summer to Phillipsburg High School’s homecoming game set for Friday, Garrett and Shulman have been looking to sway county voters before they reach the polls Nov. 4. The 5th Congressional District also includes parts of Sussex, Bergen and Passaic counties.

Little local notice from other federal races

Considered a Republican stronghold, Warren County doesn’t appear to receive much attention from other federal elections. The presidential campaigns have stayed on the other side of the Delaware River in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg most recently came to Warren County in a visit to Hackettstown several months ago, but he doesn’t plan on returning before Election Day, spokeswoman Julie Roginsky said. His Republican opponent, Dick Zimmer, did not respond to requests for comment.

Seeking his fourth term in Congress, Garrett has won the Warren County part of the district by at least 6,000 votes in each of the past three elections. But a group of Democrats gathered in Phillipsburg last week thought that record was about to change.

Standing in the dining room of the Union Station Grill near the Delaware River, town Councilman James P. Stettner said he met Shulman six months ago and told him he was wearing Alpo underwear in a dog-eat-dog election.

Stettner said he and other local Democrats now feel better about Shulman’s chances.

“You not only have a shot,” Stettner told Shulman before a roomful of supporters, “you’re going to win this thing.”

Shulman says Republican stronghold is in play

Ripping into Garrett’s voting record and going over his own campaign strategy for unseating the Republican incumbent, Shulman told the crowd Warren County was in play in this election. The Bergen County resident plans on returning to town for the high school football game Halloween night.

“Do not give up on any of your neighbors. Tell them about me,” Shulman said to his supporters. “This could be a critical place that (puts) us over the top on Nov. 4.”

Over the past few months, Garrett has reached out to county voters at town festivals in Washington and Hackettstown, according to his campaign manager, Amanda Gasperino. Garrett, who lives in Sussex County, has also participated in phone banks and door-to-door campaigning, Gasperino said. Before Nov. 4, campaign workers will hit the phones and neighborhoods to get out the vote, she said.

“It’s an area I’ve represented for a number of years,” Garrett said. “We’re taking it seriously and spending a lot of time there still.”

Reporter Bill Wichert can be reached at 908-475-8044 or by e-mail at bwichert@express-times.com.

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