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Adler-Runyan race most competitive in N.J. this Election Day

New Jersey voters, worried about the economy and jobs, will head to the polls Tuesday to choose members of Congress and decide a wide range of local races.

U.S. Rep. John Adler visited his Marlton campaign headquarters Monday, shaking hands with Rich Locklear as others continued to work the phones.
U.S. Rep. John Adler visited his Marlton campaign headquarters Monday, shaking hands with Rich Locklear as others continued to work the phones.Read moreED HILLE / Staff Photographer

New Jersey voters, worried about the economy and jobs, will head to the polls Tuesday to choose members of Congress and decide a wide range of local races.

Some South Jersey residents will cast ballots in the Third Congressional District, home of one of the nation's most competitive races, where freshman Democrat John Adler faces a challenge from Republican Jon Runyan.

Particularly important in that race will be so-called swing towns - where the candidates hope to pick up unaffiliated voters - including Moorestown, Medford, Mount Laurel, and Evesham.

Those communities have been the battlegrounds in the race between Adler, 51, of Cherry Hill, and Runyan, 36, of Mount Laurel. The Third District seat is one of about 80 in the country considered in play.

At stake is control of the House, which most analysts believe will wind up in Republican hands before night's end. Republicans need 39 seats to take control.

Recent independent polls show that the South Jersey race is too close to call, but that Runyan had the momentum as of last week.

"This election has been about frustration," said Patrick Murray, polling director for Monmouth University. "We have a lot of frustrated voters looking for some way to voice that frustration. For many of them, they have the tea party, which has given voice to some of their concerns. Whereas, others are so frustrated, they won't vote."

Even with all the excitement the region's marquee race has generated, turnout is expected to be light, with less than half of the district's 460,000 registered voters expected to cast ballots.

"In some of these other races, you'll need a search warrant to find voters," said Democratic political consultant Pat Politano, who is not involved in the Third District race, which spans Ocean and Burlington Counties and includes Cherry Hill in Camden County.

Along with the state's 13 House seats, also on the ballot Tuesday are freeholder races in Gloucester, Burlington and Camden Counties, as well as a first-time partisan mayoral race in Evesham, and a special election for state Senate and Assembly in Camden County.

Polling places in New Jersey will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

In Pennsylvania, voters are picking a replacement for U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter in a tough race between Republican former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey and Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak. And they are choosing between Democrat Dan Onorato and Republican Tom Corbett to replace Gov. Rendell.

First lady Michelle Obama tried to help encourage Democrats in the region to vote by appearing at a rally Monday night on the University of Pennsylvania campus.

"This election is about all we have left to do. We need you to get fired up," she said.

Nationally, all 435 House seats, 37 Senate seats, and 37 governorships are up.

But the race that has captivated New Jersey's interest and drawn national attention is between Harvard-educated lawyer Adler and former professional football player Runyan.

For a year, the two have traded personal and political attacks in the most expensive House race in the state. Donors have invested more than $5 million into the campaign funds of the candidates and outside groups.

On Tuesday night, the candidates' campaigns will watch early returns from heavily Republican Ocean County. Traditionally, Ocean County vote totals have come in ahead of those elsewhere. While Adler is expected to lose in those towns, the margins could tell the direction of the race.

In 2008, when Adler won the seat, opponent Republican Chris Myers only beat him by 1,000 votes in Berkeley and 5,000 in Toms River.

To balance expected losses in the historically Republican area, Adler will look at how well he does in his hometown of Cherry Hill and towns in the western side of Burlington County, especially Willingboro, which are voter-rich areas for Democrats. He beat Myers by more than 12,000 votes in Willingboro last time and by more than 10,000 votes in Cherry Hill.

But this isn't 2008, when voters came out in record numbers for the race between Barack Obama and John McCain. Since then, voters have grown increasingly discontent with Washington and fearful about the country's future.

The Third District includes 114,391 registered Republicans and 130,082 Democrats. The balance of the voters - 215,018 - are unaffiliated.

Both Runyan and Adler spent Monday shoring up their party bases. Runyan visited Ocean County, stopping at diners in Toms River and knocking on doors in Bayville.

Adler swung by his Marlton headquarters to thank volunteers, greeted commuters in Cherry Hill, and stopped in at Ponzio's diner in Cherry Hill.

And they kept up the sparring.

Adler said Runyan has extreme right-wing positions that are out of step with the district. Runyan said Adler had a left-leaning record when he was a state senator.

Previous attacks have included Adler saying Runyan is a tax scammer because he took advantage of a legal farmland assessment on his Mount Laurel estate.

Runyan has accused Adler of planting a fake tea party candidate in the race to siphon votes. Adler has denied any role in helping Peter DeStefano, who is running under the tag line "NJ Tea Party."

Both said they were optimistic.

"It's like the last career, there's a lot of preparation that goes into one final day," said Runyan. "You know going in, you've done everything you possibly can and prepared yourself and rely on everyone around you."

Adler said the election "comes down to people making a choice - a choice to build up families, to build up small businesses, to take a bipartisan approach to solving problems for this district and the country."

Also on the ballot are Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Andrews, who is running against Republican Dale Glading in the district that covers much of Camden County. At the Shore, Republican U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo is defending his seat against Democratic challenger Gary Stein. And in Northern Burlington and Ocean Counties, Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Smith is seeing a challenge from Democrat Howard Kleinhendler.

In Camden County, Democratic Freeholders Edward McDonnell and Carmen Rodriguez are defending their seats against Republican challengers George Zallie and Scott DeCristofaro.

In Gloucester County, Democrats Robert Zimmerman and Heather Simmons are running against Republicans Larry Wallace and Vincent Nestore Jr. for two freeholder seats. In Burlington County, Democrat Aimee Belgard is running against incumbent Republican Joe Donnelly for freeholder.

Voters in parts of Camden and Gloucester Counties will see special State Senate and Assembly races on their ballots. Democratic State Sen. Donald Norcross is facing Republican Harry Trout. And Democratic Assemblyman Gilbert "Whip" Wilson is running against Republican Barbara Gallagher.