""Chris Smith at one time was pro 2A if I remember correctly. He has been in office since 1981. We have exchanged many letters over those years on 2A Rights and he always seemed to have our backs here in my 4th District.

That was then and this is now. I no longer can support him due to him stances on immigration and 2A rights any longer.

I agree he is now a RHINO. Labor unions and gun control groups primarily endorse Democrats.

They've made an exception in New Jersey.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., was the only state Republican endorsed by the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, and one of only two House GOP lawmakers in the nation backed by Giffords, the gun control group named for the former Arizona congresswoman who was shot and seriously injured.

What changed his mind? I don't know for sure but he's a long time Politician who blows where the wind takes him to keep himself in office.
Let's not forget NJ has appx. 3 million voters and 2 million vote Democratic. Ocean County and Monmouth County were once the largest Republican stronghold in NJ. That has been steadily changing in the last several years due to what I believe with the influx of North Jersey people moving into South Jersey. North Jersey generally votes Democratic.
Many Republican's in Monmouth County were unseated by Democrats in the last local elections. Way more then I would have ever imagined.
Take for instance Andy Kim winning over David Richter. Ten years ago Kim wouldn't have had a snowballs chance in hell of winning.

Let's look at this chart for the Presidential voting record. We all know local elections follow closely to Presidential elections. Start at 1992 and continue downward.

Year Democratic Republican
1948 45.93% 895,455 50.33% 981,124
1952 42.0% 1,015,902 56.8% 1,374,613
1956 34.2% 850,337 64.7% 1,606,942
1960 50.0% 1,385,415 49.2% 1,363,324
1964 65.6% 1,867,671 33.9% 963,843
1968 44.0% 1,264,206 46.1% 1,325,467
1972 36.8% 1,102,211 61.6% 1,845,502
1976 47.9% 1,444,653 50.1% 1,509,688
1980 38.6% 1,147,364 52.0% 1,546,557
1984 39.2% 1,261,323 60.1% 1,933,630
1988 42.6% 1,320,352 56.2% 1,743,192
1992 43.0% 1,436,206 40.6% 1,356,865
1996 53.7% 1,652,329 35.9% 1,103,078
2000 56.1% 1,788,850 40.3% 1,284,173
2004 52.9% 1,911,430 46.2% 1,670,003
2008 57.1% 2,215,422 41.6% 1,613,207
2012 58.3% 2,126,610 40.5% 1,478,749
2016 55.0% 2,148,278 41.0% 1,601,933
2020 57.3% 2,608,335 41.4% 1,883,274

1978: We lose our last elected Republican senator

With the Reagan revolution about to begin, Republican voters decided longtime Sen. Clifford Case was too moderate for their liking. Instead, they went for conservative Jeff Bell, who once wrote speeches for Reagan, ousting Case in the Republican primary. That didn't work out at all. In the fall, voters turned out in droves for rookie Democrat Bill Bradley, whose Jersey ties were forged during his time at Princeton University and whose celebrity status was cemented as a forward on two New York Knicks championship teams.


Republican margin of defeat: 238,760 votes.

I'm afraid it's only going to get worse now that many thousands of NJ Voters are abandoning the State as they get close to retirement.  Many are already leaving even before retirement due o Murphy's insane business taxes. The "replacement" New Jerseyians are of lower education and lower wage earners and guess who they vote for?

I don't see anyway out of this slide Restava. I like you don't like it but I'm at the point of it's all shoving shit against the tide. We are being buried by our own indifference and apathy.

Sorry you feel the need to attack me because I understand the harsh reality of what our State has become. I don't agree with you that we can change anything especially by voting. 2 million Democrats voting against 1 million Republicans won't solve a thing.

Jack Ciattarelli, a former Republican assemblyman who failed to gain traction in the 2017 election, on Tuesday announced his second bid for governor, portraying himself as policy handyman to clean up after Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.

Does anyone see this Guy having any chance defeating Murphy? Sad to say I don't. Not with 2 million Dems voting lockstep again 1 million Republicans.
Vote with you feet like 50% of the posters in the NJ Hometown Forum have already done. Save yourself because the State and it's elected officials have failed you for many years and will only continue to do so.

I guess Restava is correct in calling me a defeatist. After voting since 1973 here in NJ I certainly feel like one." - LUGERMAN