The Star-Ledger: The rabbi is giving incumbent a good run

October 31st, 2008

Shulman is chasing Garrett for the 5th
Friday, October 31, 2008
BY JIM LOCKWOOD
Star-Ledger Staff

Against long odds, Democrat Dennis Shulman has taken the fight to U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett, (R-5th Dist.).

Shulman has run an aggressive campaign hitting Garrett hard on several fronts, and has kept pace in fundraising against the Republican incumbent in what has traditionally been a GOP stronghold.

Shulman also got an endorsement from a national figure, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was elected as a Republican but is now an independent.

There also are some wildcards at play in the campaign, including a surge this year in Democratic voter registrations in the district that should help Shulman, and the presidential election, which should bolster turnout on both sides.

Still, a Shulman win would be an upset.

“It’s an awfully tough district for a Democrat to win,” said Ben Dworkin, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. “It’s going to come down to voter turnout and (presidential race) coattails, and who has a better ground operation.”

The 5th District includes the northern half of Bergen County, where most voters live, part of Passaic County, most of Sussex County and all of Warren County.

Garrett, 49, an attorney from Wantage, Sussex County, who is known as New Jersey’s most conservative congressman, has handily defeated three prior Democratic challengers — all from Bergen County — by double-digit margins.

This year, however, Garrett has faced his toughest race yet against Shulman, 58, a psychologist and rabbi from Demarest, Bergen County, who has been well financed and has relentlessly attacked Garrett on various fronts.

Shulman has slammed Garrett as “corrupt,” for receiving a farmland tax break on land his brother uses for a tree farm but failing to list the farm on federal financial disclosures, and for accepting campaign contributions from financial firms and PACs while serving on the House Financial Services Committee. Garrett has responded with ads calling Shulman “an extremist who believes America must negotiate with terrorists,” such as Hamas and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Garrett’s opponents “argue he’s more conservative than his district, and while that might be true, the district deals with it. It’s a gerrymandered district (to favor the GOP), a very conservative district. They’re still voting Republican and that’s why he’s won handily” in the past, Dworkin said.

“What makes this race different is Shulman has really taken Garrett on for taking money from regulated industries he oversees, and his taxation on his property and whether he lists it on various forms. But I don’t know if it will be enough to carry Shulman over the top,” he said.

Garrett’s counterattack linking Shulman to Hamas and Iran seemed to be a diversion from Shulman’s charges about Garrett’s farm and campaign contributions, Dworkin said.

“Most observers found that (Garrett’s ad) a little curious. If you’re going to go out and attack a rabbi as being pro-Hamas, you’ll need more to make it stick,” Dworkin said.

Both sides expressed confidence going into the final weekend before Election Day on Tuesday.

“We are extremely confident and looking forward to a favorable outcome on election day,” said Garrett’s campaign manager, Amanda Gasperino. “Congressional campaigns during a presidential election year always yield an exciting environment, and Scott is so thankful to all of the people who have expressed their support for him. A great number of people from the community have chosen to assist by volunteering with the Garrett for Congress campaign, and we have raised more money this year than in any previous election cycle.”

Shulman’s campaign manager Jeff Hauser said, “Dennis, who has overcome far greater obstacles in his life than a perception that he can’t win a congressional race, will indeed defeat Garrett and replace a special-interest crony with a community leader.”

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