Runyan Elected to Congress in the 3rd District of New Jersey!

The long awaited Election Day has finally given us the results we have been waiting for: Jon Runyan is elected to Congress! According to South Jersey Local News, the newcomer Republican took back a historically Republican seat by a vote count of 106,175 to 100,169.

The battle in the 3^rd district of New Jersey was said to be the “hardest fought, most expensive and most bitter House race” by the Philadelphia Inquirer. In the final week before the election, Adler and the Democrats were reported to have spent $830,000 on television ads in the expensive New York and Philadelphia area and another $700,000 on attack ads on Runyan in Philadelphia television. The question that is on everyone’s mind is how did newcomer Runyan unseat incumbent Adler? The Burlington County Times lists several reasons from the amount of help Runyan received from Republican organizations in the district, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and support from Governor Chris Christie. The Burlington County Times also stated that Runyan was said to have worked harder than ever as a candidate against Adler, as he had to overcome the significant financial gap between the parties. “Entering the election, Adler had raised more than $3 million in campaign funds compared with Runyan's approximately $1 million.”

Personally, I believe that Runyan deserves the win in this district because of his unfailing determination as a new political candidate and his focus on more than just attack ads when compared with Adler. The back-and-forth attacks and counterattacks between the candidates was said to have confused and annoyed voters; however, it seems that Runyan’s hard work has finally paid off as he won not only the seat, but also voter’s hearts.