William Widnall

New Jersey Republicans have nine non-incumbent candidates for Congress in 2008, the most since 1976 when the state's House delegation had a 12-3 Democratic majority.  For the last decade, New Jersey Democrats have held a 7-6 majority in the House.

Here's a brief history of the party turnover of New Jersey House seats:

One of the most powerful New Jerseyans to ever serve in the U.S. House of Representatives was J. Parnell Thomas, a Bergen County Republican who was elected to Congress in 1936. When the GOP took control of the House after the 1946 elections, Thomas became the Chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee -- where his investigation into the Hollywood motion picture industry made him well-known across the nation. Thomas was one of the architects of Hollywood's so-called "Black List."

Thomas was a World War I veteran and investment banker when he ran for Allendale Borough Council in 1924. He was Mayor from 1926 to 1930 and a State Assemblyman from 1935 to 1937. When eight-term Congressman Randolph Perkins died after the 1936 primary, Republicans picked Thomas to run for his Bergen County-based House seat.

The HUAC interviewed more than forty people from the movie industry and named nineteen as having "leftist" views. Ten others subpoenaed by Thomas' committee refused to answer questions. Known as the "Hollywood Ten," these individuals were eventually found to be in contempt of Congress and served time in a federal prison.

Ned J. Parsekian, a former State Senator from Bergen County, sought the Democratic nomination for Governor in 1969Former State Sen. Ned J. Parsekian, a Bergen County Democrat who ran for Governor in 1969, died on Monday in Sarasota, Florida, according to his law partner, Melvin Solomon. He was 86.

A graduate of New York University and Columbia Law School, and a World War II veteran, Parsekian began his political career serving in the administration of Gov. Robert Meyner. He was Deputy Attorney General, Director of the state Division of Workmen's Compensation, and Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles. He held the post on an acting basis for three years before the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed his nomination.

Parsekian was elected to the State Senate in 1965 and lost re-election in 1967. He briefly considered entering the race to challenge GOP U.S. Sen. Clifford Case in 1966, but declined.  Democrats later decided to back Warren Wilentz, the Middlesex County Prosecutor, for the post.