By Lauren Otis, Staff Writer
New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District sprawls across the central portion of the state, from the Jersey shore to the Delaware River, encompassing suburban, urban and rural areas.
It is a disparate district — incorporating wealthy municipalities like Princeton, West Windsor, Plainsboro and Lawrence, as well as poor districts of Trenton — that incumbent Rep. Rush Holt, a five-term Democrat, has spent 10 years crisscrossing and serving, making Republican challenger Alan Bateman’s quest to unseat him this fall a difficult one.
”It is really a formidable challenge,” said Ingrid Reed, director of the New Jersey Project at the Eagleton Institute for Politics at Rutgers University. “You really have an incumbent who has over time built an incredible approval rating, as reflected in the vote” in previous elections, said Ms. Reed.
Voters view Rep. Holt “as a Congressman that really cares about them and is honest,” Ms. Reed said, noting he has even been able to attract Republican voters on election day. Through community meetings and an informative newsletter Rep. Holt has sought to connect his unwieldy district. “It’s a very interesting example of an elected official as a community educator,” Ms. Reed said.
Mr. Bateman is a “dedicated good-government person,” and has stepped up to present an alternative to the apparently secure Rep. Holt, but faces a difficult challenge, according to Ms. Reed. “For him to beat Rush Holt he would need more time, more money and a real vehicle for getting known in the district which is really a hard thing to do,” she said. Even if he loses, Mr. Bateman may be positioning himself to be in a better position to challenge Rep. Holt in the future, she said.
Ben Dworkin, director of the Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, said Mr. Bateman’s task is even more difficult given that it is a presidential year. The 12th district is fairly safely Democratic and voter turnout in a presidential election tends to be higher, which will accentuate Rep. Holt’s voter advantage, Mr. Dworkin said.
According to Mr. Bateman, “He (Rep. Holt) has been in there 10 years and he’s well respected in the district, however the people are looking for change and for Congress to take action, and I feel I am the person who can deliver that.”
Mr. Bateman said in the current tough economic times Congress was not acting to cut spending enough and Rep. Holt was a part of that Congress.
Mr. Bateman, 47, who is deputy mayor of Holmdel Township and whose occupation is as an independent consultant to hospitals and health care organizations, acknowledged that he is at a significant disadvantage to Rep. Holt in fundraising. “We’ll do the best we can,” Mr. Bateman said, noting that in the absence of significant resources “we are executing a grass roots campaign strategy.”
According to July 15 filings with the Federal Election Commission, Rep. Holt received net year-to-date contributions to his campaign of $745,021 and had cash on hand of $759,546. Mr. Bateman’s July 15 FEC campaign filing listed year-to-date net contributions of $7,575 and cash on hand of $6,488.
”The best campaigning is to be a good representative,” said Rep. Holt, noting he will not be doing much different during an election season than what he normally does for his district. “I always need to point out to people that for me the difference between an election year and a non-election year is indistinguishable,” Rep. Holt said.
Rep. Holt said his support in the district stems from his record, a record which encompasses not just his legislative record but his constituent services and speaking out on issues that affect people in central New Jersey. His proudest accomplishment, he said, is his continuing emphasis on being accessible to constituents and helping them navigate the federal bureaucracy.
Residents of central New Jersey “say they have found me among the most accessible of public officials and that I have restored their confidence in public office, and that is why I ran for public office, to beat back the cynicism about elected officials,” Rep. Holt said.
Of his opponent, Rep. Holt said: “To the extent that I know about his positions he seems too far to the right for this district. This district has been a centrist district.”
Rep. Holt, 59, a physicist by training who was assistant director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory before running for Congress in 1998, has been a vocal proponent of developing sustainable alternative energy sources, a goal he said was even more critical given high gas and energy prices and a slowing economy.
That energy alternatives to fossil fuels and coal need to be developed is an issue that “has been looming for a decade or two,” Rep. Holt said. “There is no question I am hearing more about it. Some people are getting scared about the home-heating season. They are not sure how they are going to afford it,” he said.
Mr. Bateman said he backs the long-term exploration of alternative energy technologies coupled with a shorter-term emphasis on becoming energy independent from foreign oil by encouraging domestic oil exploration and repealing the offshore drilling ban supported by Democrats.
Rep. Holt has backed measures in Congress which would improve energy efficiency and reduce demand for oil, encourage fossil fuel alternatives, improve mass transit and use technology to reduce commuting times.
Mr. Bateman said his principle focus is on the economy and reducing government taxation and spending. He noted that Holmdel has been able to reduce spending and cut its budget during his tenure there as deputy mayor. “Holmdel might be a microcosm of the bigger picture, but you have to start somewhere,” he said.
”I think government needs to step aside and let businesses, especially small businesses where you get real job growth, operate. Don’t tax them,” Mr. Bateman said. “The one thing that I will bring to Washington, I know what it is like as a small business owner to survive in this economy, and what it’s like to struggle to pay your bills every month. I go through those things myself. I’m not a rich person,” he said.
If businesses were allowed to prosper they would be able to offer improved benefits to employees, and broader economic improvement, Mr. Bateman said.
Rep. Holt is a backer of a combined approach of public and private programs to generate business and economic growth. He has been a proponent of the “Einstein’s Alley” initiative in central New Jersey which seeks to make the region attractive for research and development and high-tech businesses, and hence improve job growth, through public-private-academic partnerships.
”We have not made sufficient investments in research and development in recent decades,” Rep. Holt said. “The economy has in large part been powered by the technological advances of several decades ago,” he said, noting Congress needed to make significant investments in future technologies to drive future economic growth. “We are living off our seed corn as the saying goes,” he said.
Mr. Bateman said his emphasis is on budgetary issues and creating efficient government, and he would not emphasize social policymaking if elected. He said he is pro-life but that is a personal choice. “I don’t feel like it is government’s place to be legislating that kind of thing,” he said. Asked about issues such as gay marriage, he said, “how people choose to live their lives is none of my business.” Mr. Bateman said anti-discrimination laws were appropriate and currently sufficient to provide protections for gays.
Rep. Holt is pro-choice and has sponsored several bills seeking to expand protections for gays and lesbians.
Mr. Bateman is a resident of Holmdel, where he lives with his wife and three children. He holds a master’s degree in business and hospital administration from Xavier University and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Cincinnati. His campaign Web site is www.batemanforcongress.com.
Rep. Holt, a resident of Hopewell Township, earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from Carleton College in Minnesota and completed his master’s and doctorate at New York University. He is married and has three grown children. Rep. Holt’s father, Rush Dew Holt, was a U.S. senator from West Virginia and his mother served as West Virginia’s first female secretary of state. His campaign Web site is www.rushholt.com.
