Andrew Zwicker looks to break through primary battle
By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
SOUTH BRUNSWICK — Andrew Zwicker knows he has a mountain to climb in order to win the Democratic nomination for the 12th Congressional District, but believes his team may have figured out the winning formula.
”We have to get the word out,” Mr. Zwicker told about 40 supporters Sunday at the Eno Terra restaurant in Kingston. “We are going everywhere we possibly can to make sure people hear the word.”
Mr. Zwicker, 49, the head of educational programs at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, is squaring off against fellow Democrats Sen. Linda Greenstein, D-14, Sen. Bonnie Watson-Coleman, D-15, and Assemblyman Upendra Chivikula, D-17, in the June 3 primary election.
The winner will then face Republican Dr. Alieta Eck in November to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Rush Holt.
Mr. Holt, a Democrat, has represented the district since taking office in January 1999.
The Zwicker campaign team understands how difficult the road to a June victory is, with both Ms. Greenstein and Ms. Coleman receiving the most endorsements and media attention in the race so far.
Mr. Chivikula is also making waves in his own right, purchasing several television spots in the lead up to the vote next month.
In contrast to the other three “career politicians,” Mr. Zwicker, like Mr. Holt, comes from a scientific background and said he uses facts and evidence to make decisions instead of just political ideology.
In fact, Mr. Zwicker said it was Mr. Holt that initially recruited him to work at the Princeton lab.
To illustrate, Mr. Zwicker explained how his team, made up of others from academia, were able to dissect voter information in primary races to determine about how many votes he needs to win the nomination.
The answer, according to Mr. Zwicker, is about 6,000.
Based on the voter records from past primaries, his team estimates that only 10 percent of the registered 170,000 voters in the district go to the polls during a primary.
Of that number, only two percent are under the age of 30, with the average age of a primary voter being 68, according to his team’s research.
”Young people don’t (historically) vote in primaries,” he said.
He said that his campaign is working to get out the college vote and, with good turnouts in Princeton, Rider and The College of New Jersey, an estimated 1,000-1,500 collegiate voters could make a huge difference in the race.
The campaign is figuring on a likely vote split between Ms. Greenstein and Ms. Coleman that could “open a path” for Mr. Zwicker to come out on top at the end of the day.
”That’s how we can win,” he said. “That’s how we can say ‘enough is enough’ and go ahead and really get our voice heard once and for all.