Regional and statewide hopefuls from Princeton fall short
By: Jennifer Potash
Several Princeton residents faced some steeply uphill odds in regional and statewide campaigns this election season – some on shoestring budgets and some in bright green vans.
Princeton Township residents Carl Mayer and Worth Winslow ran as members of the Green Party and Libertarian Party, respectively, in the 12th Congressional District.
State Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, of Princeton Borough, challenged incumbent Republican Chris Smith in the 4th Congressional District.
And Bruce Afran of Princeton Township ran as a Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate seat and was the top vote-getter among the third-party candidates.
For the most part, each candidate said he considered it a positive experience – despite, in every case, a decisive defeat.
"It was a good experience for me to focus on issues that are important not only to Princeton but to residents in other parts of the state," said Mr. Gusciora, whose opponent won the district with about 66 percent of the vote.
Mr. Winslow, a computer programmer who ran for the first time for political office, said he liked participating in various candidate forums.
"I enjoyed speaking with people and having the chance to appear before people with the other candidates," he said.
While there was a lot of hard work and personal sacrifice, there was much to be gained, Mr. Winslow said.
"Third parties will have a big impact by bringing their issues into play," he said.
Mr. Mayer, who traveled around the 12th Congressional District in a converted school van painted a hue close to the Jolly Green Giant, said the effort went a long way toward building up the Green Party as a viable third party for future elections.
Running as a third-party candidate, he said, allowed him to give voice to issues such as single-payer national health care and the full public financing of campaigns, which he believed the major party candidates ignored.
Mr. Afran said he was disappointed by the lack of coverage of his campaign by the New Jersey media. Too much of the coverage focused on Democrat Jon Corzine’s vast sums of campaign money and Republican Bob Franks’ lack of it, he said.
Since many groups sponsoring debates, like the League of Women Voters, are tax-exempt, those organizations must be nonpartisan in selecting candidates to participate, Mr. Afran said. As a result, he said, they ask the Democratic and Republican candidates to participate but refuse to pick which third-party candidates to invite and shut them all out.
Or, he said, those candidates can get shut out of debates based on rules allowing participation only if the party’s candidate from the previous election garnered 5 percent of the vote.
A better method, he said, would be to use the candidate’s existing record of public service, the type of public events the candidate participates in and how much money the campaign has raised.
Mr. Afran said he may seek redress in the courts so more third-party candidates are included in debates.
Mr. Afran said his positions on the death penalty, health care reform and shifting drug enforcement efforts toward treatment and education resonated with younger voters.
Had he won, Mr. Gusciora quipped, Princeton could have had two representatives in Congress.
Princeton is included in the 12th Congressional District – currently represented by Democrat Rush Holt.
Mr. Mayer, who won 2 percent of the votes cast, or 5,717 votes, may have siphoned off some votes from Rep. Holt. As of Monday, Rep. Holt had an unofficial 499-vote lead over Republican Dick Zimmer.
Being part of such a close race was exciting, Mr. Winslow said.
Mr. Afran said he has given some thought to running for governor in 2001 on the Green Party ticket.
Another race also is likely on the horizon for Mr. Mayer. A candidate for Congress either in the primary or the general elections in 1992, 1996 and 1998, Mr. Mayer said he has not determined which office he might seek.
Mr. Mayer was elected to the Princeton Township Committee in 1994, serving one three-year term.