30 years and counting?

            Because I go to school out-of-state I usually fall behind on the political happenings in New Jersey. When I returned home in May, I asked my mother who was running against Chris Smith in the primary. She didn’t know. I asked my grandmother and she didn’t know. This seemed to be the answer I got, no matter who I asked.

            Election signs usually litter the streets of my town before an election, but despite driving around for nearly two months before the primary on June 8^th, I didn’t see one promoting Smith or his opponent, who I finally found out was Alan Bateman. (Check out the video to learn more about Bateman)

            Smith has been the Congressman of the 4^th district of New Jersey since 1980- that’s just under 30 years. When you see and hear someone’s name for thirty years it seems to get stuck in your head. That’s one of the biggest advantages of being the incumbent. All of us in Smith’s district have watched as he represented us for the past thirty years without any major problems. The old saying goes, “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it”, so why would we vote out Smith?

            This proved true in the Primary election at least, where Smith dominated the polls. According to FOXNews.com Smith received 21,598 votes, while Bateman got only 9,779.  This earned Smith the votes needed to make it back on the ballot this coming November to represent the Republican Party, where he will face-off against Howard Kleinhendler.

            Kleinhendler ran uncontested in his primary election, so it’s hard to gauge his overall support. But no matter how popular Kleinhendler is, Smith has continually proved that its hard to beat a popular incumbent.