Josh Zeitz

Fourth District residents are getting calls from Hillary Clinton.

Clinton recorded a robocall for Democrat Josh Zeitz, who’s challenging U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-Hamilton) – the longest-serving incumbent in the state.

“Hi, this is Senator Hillary Clinton calling to ask you to vote for Josh Zeitz for Congress on Tuesday, November 4^th,” she says in the call. “Josh Zeitz knows that your priorities are to repair this broken economy and ensure that all Americans receive quality, affordable health care, and these will be his priorities in Congress.”

Fourth District Democratic Congressional candidate Josh Zeitz is challenging U.S. Rep. Chris Smith’s right to vote in his own election, and maybe even his right to be a candidate.

The Zeitz campaign today sent a letter to Mercer County Superintendent of Elections Bettye Monroe, asking that Smith’s voter registration be revoked because of his alleged Virginia residency.

At issue is controversy surrounding Smith’s daughter’s college tuition. She pays in-state tuition at a public university in Virginia, where Smith’s family resides. Zeitz says the law states that only legal Virginia residents can do that, and that parents who co-sign the application for the tuition break must have “abandoned any previous domicile.”

“We request an explanation of how Chris Smith may vote in New Jersey after having ‘abandoned’ New Jersey as a domicile. Smith's voluntary application for Virginia in-state educational benefits demonstrates his choice that Virginia, not New Jersey, is his domicile. Smith cannot be a registered voter in New Jersey and a Virginia domicile at the same time, particularly as Virginia requires that its domiciles "intend to remain indefinitely,” wrote Zeitz Campaign Manager Steve D’Amico.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has added New Jersey's fifth district to their "Red to Blue" fundaising program "once thought to be out of reach."  The Republican incumbent, Scott Garrett, faces Dennis Shulman, a blind Rabbi who has run an aggressive and surprisingly well-financed campaign in a district that hasn't elected a Democratic Congressman since 1978.  But the Red to Blue list is clearly not the DCCC's first-tier campaigns, and inclusion in the program doesn't assure any meaningful campaign dollars or substantial political support and includes over sixty House races nationally where Democrats aren't completely optimistic.  Josh Zeitz, who is challenging fifteen-term incumbent Christopher Smith in the fourth district, was added to the Red to Blue list in September.  Smith is still viewed as a safe bet for re-election.

Democrat Josh Zeitz wants to stop Rep. Chris Smith from winning a 15th term
In the 4th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-Hamilton) and Democratic challenger Josh Zeitz have two joint editorial board meetings scheduled before election day. Whether those count as debates depends on who you ask.

According to Zeitz, they don’t count, and Smith has ignored legitimate third party invitations to engage in actual public debates.

“They’re not public. Members of public can’t attend them, and the public can’t ask questions,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) and 4th District Congressional District candidate Josh Zeitz want America to pull the plug on the war in Iraq.

Speaking on a conference call this afternoon, they tallied the $4.5 billion total cost of the six-year old war to the 4th and 6th districts, according to Obama presidential campaign spokesman Andrew Poag, and tied those numbers to the record and campaign rhetoric of GOP presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

"We can’t afford another president who will continue George W. Bush’s failed foreign policies," said Pallone, one of four New Jersey congressmen who voted against the initial resolution authorizing Bush to go into Iraq. 

"Senator Barack Obama (who at the outset opposed the war in a speech he gave in 2002) has proposed a safe and responsible plan to bring our troops home, but John McCain has no plan to end the war," Pallone added.

Josh Zeitz, left, speaks to a Saturday crowd that includes Mercer County Executive Brian J. Hughes, right.: Politicker photo 

TRENTON - Since the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last week listed the 4th Congressional race as one to watch, Democratic challenger Josh Zeitz has received, on average, cash commitments of $10,000 per day for his campaign, according to spokesman Steven D’Amico.

"It’s more than what we were getting before," said D’Amico, who wouldn’t specify exactly how much more.

Bolstered by the cash infusion, Zeitz took the floor at Saturday’s Obama HQ opening and declared that Nov. 4th will usher in a Democratic sweep.

State Democratic Party Chairman Joseph Cryan address the crowd at Obama HQ on Saturday.: Politicker photo

WEST WINDSOR - The sense here on Saturday is the presidential race is no longer deadlocked nationally.

At this moment.

So when State Democratic Chairman Joseph Cryan asks the crowd of 260 Obama canvassers to demonstrate an upbeat mood, they respond with full-throated gusto in the packed headquarters of Obama’s campaign headquarters.

No one committed to a candidate in this cycle lets pass an opportunity to celebrate the good fortune of his or her presidential aspirant, be he Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) or Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

To hear the media tell the story, the fortunes appear too transient.

If this event occurred a week ago, the mood would have been borderline gloomy. But today Washington is mulling a $700 billion bail-out package for a flat-lining Wall Street and Sen. John McCain - longtime champion of deregulation in the private sector - also lugs a five-day old burden of suggesting that America’s economy is fundamentally sound.

Campaign staffers for Republican congressional candidates Leonard Lance and Chris Myers say they expect President Bush to show up for their joint fundraiser Monday, even though he's canceled fundraising appearances in Florida and Alabama to deal with the economic crisis.

Meanwhile, Democrats across the state are putting together a game plan, intent on not letting the unpopular president's private appearance go unnoticed by New Jerseyans.

A poll released today by Strategic Vision put Bush's New Jersey approval rating at 20 percent.

Fourth district congressional candidate Josh Zeitz has been added to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “races to watch” list.

The placement could put Zeitz, who’s challenging long-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-Hamilton), on deck to receive fundraising help from the DCCC over the next two months.

The “races to watch” category is the third tier of the group’s prospects. The first tier – the “Red to Blue” program - provides fundraising help in the most competitive districts. Assemblywoman Linda Stender, who’s running against Republican state Sen. Leonard Lance for an open seat in District 7, and State Sen. John Adler, who’s running Republican Medford Mayor Chris Myers for an open seat in District 3, are in that program. Blind rabbi/psychologist Dennis Shulman, who’s running against U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett in the 5th District, is in the second tier “emerging races” program.

Republican Chris Smith is seeking his 15th term in Congress. He was first elected in 1980.: Getty Images Photo
An outraged U.S. Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-Hamilton) wants an apology from his Democratic challenger for calling him a bigot and for falsely charging that he concealed campaign contributions from two conservative Christian groups.

Democrat Josh Zeitz, a college history professor challenging the fourteen-term Congressman, released a video this week seeking to dispel the notion that Smith is a moderate. Yesterday he took that a step further, calling Smith a “bigot.”

Zeitz’s claims were amplified by an article in The New Republic, a left leaning magazine, which yesterday outlined Smith’s ties to what Zeitz called “religious-right hate groups.”

Today, the magazine retracted part of their story and, Smith says, apologized to him.