Republican Candidate Runyan and his Victory Affecting the Republican Controlled Congress

Joining the team of newly elected Republicans, Runyan, who stands at 6 foot 7, joked around saying, “I'll probably be the largest human being on The Hill…But we're going to take that largeness and use it to shrink the size of government." Former Democratic state legislator John Adler offered to help Runyan transition into office, stating that if Runyan succeeds, the third district of New Jersey ultimately succeeds. Adler’s loss to Runyan has been noted as self-inflicted from his non-stop attacks on Runyan to his involvement in the planting of the fake tea party candidate.

According to the Washington Post, Runyan was scheduled to be in D.C. November 15^th, 2010 for his Capitol Hill orientation. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, voters had voted for against the Republicans the past two years in hopes of change promised by candidates such as Obama and Christie. However, clearly the voters have not been pleased with what the elected leaders have been doing in office. The Republicans, now taking a slight majority in the House of Representatives, work to change what has been under the Democratic reign. Chris Russell, a spokesperson for the Runyan campaign, stated that Jon Runyan is the direction that voters are looking for. “He’s a political outsider with an eight-point plan to cut taxes and create jobs. And Runyan’s reform agenda includes congressional term limits and a balanced budget amendment.” Runyan, a new face in politics, must work to not only prove to voters that he was the right choice, but also to prove to other state legislators that he has what it takes to aid the Republican controlled Congress in achieving their goals. 

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.