Age: 49

Hometown: Wyckoff, NJ

Occupation: Congressman

Personal background: I grew up in North Caldwell, N.J., and attended the University of Pennsylvania, became a Thouron Fellow at Oxford, and paid my way through Harvard Law School. After college, I worked for President Bill Clinton as a speech writer. Prior to Congress, I was General Manager for Corporate Strategy at Microsoft, where I worked on the cutting edge of technology, innovation and management. I also served as Director of Strategic Communications at Ford Motor Company, where I helped rebuild the image of America’s iconic car company. I was a senior advisor to the Chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and have published two books, Ripples of Hope: Great American Civil Rights Speeches and Power in Words: The Stories behind Barack Obama’s Speeches, from the State House to the White House. I served as Senior Advisor to the Chairman at the Federal Communications Commission, and was the FCC’s first Director of Public-Private Initiatives. I live in Wyckoff with my wife and two children. Like their dad, my children consider the highlight of every summer to be their trips to the Jersey Shore and listening to Bruce Springsteen.

Political background: In 1998, I started working as a speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, and worked on multiple campaigns in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, including John Kerry and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns. In 2015, I decided to take on Scott Garrett, a congressman known for his homophobic views. We flipped the district, and I became the first Democrat to hold this North Jersey seat since 1983.

In Congress, I serve on two committees, including the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where I am the Ranking Member of the National Security Agency and Cyber Subcommittee, and a member of the National Intelligence Enterprise Subcommittee. I also serve on the House Financial Services Committee, where I am a member of the Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance and International Financial Institutions, the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion, and the Subcommittee on Capital Markets. I am also a member of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, the Dads Caucus, the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, the Equality Caucus and the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.

Reason for running: First, I love Jersey and know that Jersey is the best state in the country. We have so much going for us, and so much more we can do to make life here even better for our families and communities.

As the Co-Chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, I have a strong record of working across party lines to find common ground to get things done. That’s why I worked across the aisle to pass the first major piece of gun legislation in more than a decade; to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to invest in our roads, bridges, rail, electric vehicles and the Gateway Train Tunnel; to pass the PACT Act to help veterans exposed to toxic chemicals; to pass the only legislation to protect democracy and the integrity of the next presidential election after January 6th; and to pass an expansion of the Child Tax Credit.

Biggest issue: We live in the greatest country in the world. I’m optimistic about our future, but to keep making life better for all families, we need to work together to get things done.

As I mentioned before, we’ve passed historic legislation by putting aside our partisan differences. And there’s a lot more to do. We need to find bipartisan solutions to protect access to reproductive freedom, further protect our environment and lower prescription drug costs, protect America’s national security, lower taxes for hardworking families, pass additional common sense gun safety laws, and expand access to affordable child care.

On the federal government’s role in women’s reproductive health: The government should never get between a woman, her doctor and her faith. This is not an issue that should be left to the states — we need to work toward national protections on reproductive freedom. I have introduced two pieces of legislation, the “Freedom to Decide Act” and the “Protecting Personal, Private Medical Decisions Act,” both of which protect access to Mifepristone and support telemedicine across state lines, so doctors can prescribe it wherever women are in need of care. I also introduced the “Securing Access to Fertility Everywhere Act,” which will protect both those seeking and providing IVF treatment. This new law will shield doctors, nurses, and hospitals prescribing IVF from liability and state wrongful death claims in using and transporting embryonic cells. I am a cosponsor of H.R.4796, which would establish a grant program to fund reproductive health patient navigators for individuals seeking abortion services. I have fought to ban federal funding for so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” and prohibit them from deliberately spreading misinformation about reproductive healthcare and the services they offer (including cosponsoring H.R.2736, the “Stop Anti-abortion Disinformation Act”).

On the U.S. transition to clean energy: We’ve seen very clearly the impact of climate change — both locally with the frequency and intensity of storms and flooding, at the Jersey Shore, and with fires. We’ve taken action to help communities fight climate change, as we move toward renewable energy, including with the Inflation Reduction Act and the climate resiliency resources in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, which I helped pass. As part of the Infrastructure Bill, we clawed back significant resources to install electric vehicle charging stations around New Jersey to improve climate resiliency, and I have worked to transition to clean energy resources.

On ensuring free and fair elections and the transition of power: In 2021, I was inside the House Chamber when lawless thugs and insurrectionists breached the United States Capitol, in an attempt to upend our democracy and our 230-year tradition of a peaceful transition of power. To prevent a repeat of those events, I led the passage of the bipartisan “Electoral Count Reform Act” in the House, which reforms and modernizes the outdated Electoral Count Act of 1887. It ensures that electoral votes tallied by Congress accurately reflect each state’s vote for President, and limits the rule of the Vice President in certifying the election.

On the U.S. role in foreign conflicts: Both conflicts need our attention. We must get the remaining hostages home from Gaza, including Fifth District resident Edan Alexander, ensure that humanitarian aid is urgently provided to innocent citizens in Gaza being used by Hamas terrorists as human shields, and we must crush Hamas terrorists, who are also enemies of our country. As the President has said, Israel’s security is key to our national security, and our relationship is ironclad. Russia is one of the biggest threats to our national security, and we must stand up to Putin’s war of aggression. Ukraine needs our help now and we can never forget the innocent lives killed by Putin’s dictatorial march in Ukraine.

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Age: 71

Hometown: Washington Twp. (Bergen)

Occupation: Retired

Personal background: Lifelong resident of NJ. 36-year resident of Township of Washington (Bergen). B.S. (1975) and M.S (1976) from Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken). Information Technology executive at a Fortune 100 (30 years). Management Consultant (10 years).

Political background: Lifetime member of the Libertarian Party (National and New Jersey). Vice Chair of the NJ Libertarian Party (2016-2017). Libertarian Party candidate for NJ State Senate (LD39, 2017 & 2021) and U.S. House (CD5, 2018 & 2024).

Reason for running: I am the only candidate in the race running to protect our personal, civil, and economic liberties by limiting the Federal government to the purpose for which it was established—to protect those rights. In contrast, both of the two major parties seek to control the government in order to impose on everyone their view on how people should live their lives.

Biggest issue: Federal Government spending, taxes, and debt. The only way to control spending, so we can reduce both taxes and the debt, is to reform the biggest Federal spending programs: entitlements and the military.

On the federal government’s role in women’s reproductive health: A Federal government of limited, enumerated powers should have no role in regulating a women’s reproductive health. Its only role should be to protect a women’s right to make her own healthcare decisions with, if she so chooses, the advice of healthcare providers.

On the U.S. transition to clean energy: The Federal government should streamline multi-year environmental reviews, so that the private sector can provide market-driven solutions that incentivize green innovation, without damaging our economy.

On ensuring free and fair elections and the transition of power: We need to remove the laws and regulations that the two major parties have passed that limit the ability of third-party and Independent candidates to participate in our democracy. This includes excessively high signature requirements to get on the ballot, reserving the first two columns on the ballot for Democrats and Republicans, taxpayer-funding of Democratic and Republican primaries, and overly-complex campaign finance laws.

On the U.S. role in foreign conflicts: The Federal government should not be spending taxpayer money to provide military assistance to any country in a foreign conflict. Those foreign governments that are not unfriendly to the U.S. should be allowed to use their taxpayer money to purchase military equipment from U.S. weapons manufacturers in order to defend themselves.

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