2d District race in N.J. tightens, by some accounts

ATLANTIC CITY - In a packed church here last week, the Second Congressional District candidates, incumbent Republican Frank LoBiondo and his Democratic challenger, Bill Hughes Jr., were like two fighters in a ring.

LoBiondo, 68, the elder statesman, was seated to the right of Hughes, the bespectacled attorney 21 years his junior whose father retired after 20 years in Congress, making way for LoBiondo in 1994.

An interpreter translated the steady stream of questions in Spanish from a line of constituents that formed inside New Jerusalem Church.

The nearly two-hour event was hosted by the Latino Cultural Association Community Forum. Hughes, on the offensive, accused LoBiondo of, among other things, not passing comprehensive immigration reform during his two decades in Washington, failing to help Latino small-business owners, and standing idle as Atlantic City lost 8,000 jobs with the closure of four casinos this year.

LoBiondo appeared relaxed and seemed to roll with the punches. He portrayed himself as a Republican who wasn't afraid to buck the party line when necessary, and who always put his district first.

"Feeling good," LoBiondo said after the Q&A. "I've worked with the [Latino] community. I've worked in the community.

"I feel comfortable with what what I've done," he said. "I feel comfortable with the results - with the passion - I bring to the table."

Hughes, 47, of Northfield, who has been a lawyer the last dozen years with Atlantic City's Cooper Levenson firm, stayed on point - that LoBiondo has been on the job too long and has become complacent.

The same scenario replayed the following morning as the two appeared before The Inquirer's Editorial Board. LoBiondo half-jokingly referred to the "litany of charges" hurled against him by Hughes regarding his record.

Hughes said that LoBiondo pledged to get out of Congress after 12 years.

"You hear that all the time," LoBiondo said. "When you don't have nothing else to bring up, you throw that brick. The reality is, I did make that pledge, but four years before the pledge was due, I reconsidered.

"I supported every term-limits bill that came before Congress," LoBiondo said. "I would vote for any term-limits bill that came before Congress again. I think it should be imposed in all of Congress.

"So if people think that's enough for them not to vote for me, that's their choice," he said. "But I'm comfortable with people making that choice based on my record."

The sprawling Second District covers eight counties, stretching from Salem to Ocean and Atlantic Counties with 91 municipalities. It is the state's largest district and among the most diverse.

The congressional race, which had been written off as an easy win for LoBiondo, took on a new dimension this month when a Richard Stockton College poll had the margin between the two at 6 percentage points, with LoBiondo ahead 44 to 38 percent, and 18 percent undecided.

In addition, Sen. Cory Booker's visit here last week, in which he urged Democratic volunteers to get out the vote for "brother Hughes," also got the attention of political pundits - some of whom are now looking at this as "a real race."

But a Monmouth University poll Thursday showed Hughes' chances as less certain. That poll had LoBiondo with a 21-point lead, with 56 percent saying they would vote for LoBiondo and 35 percent voting for Hughes on Nov. 4.

"LoBiondo has held his seat for two decades because of significant crossover appeal in a district that otherwise trends Democratic," wrote Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.

LoBiondo first ran for Congress in 1992 against then-Rep. Bill Hughes Sr. He lost by 14 points but went on to win the seat handily two years later when Hughes retired.

"He hasn't done much," Hughes Jr., a former federal prosecutor, said of LoBiondo. "He sat on his hands. Part of it is comfort.

"His actions and voting record are simply not there," Hughes said. "All one has to do is take a look at the up to 10,000 [casino] workers that have been, or will be, laid off.

"We're looking at 12.6 percent long-term unemployment [for Atlantic City] - among the highest in the nation - and you have to say, 'The work simply has not gotten done,' " he said.

He criticized LoBiondo, who is chairman of the House Subcommittee on Aviation, of not delivering 2,000 jobs through a program called NextGen, an acronym for the next generation of air traffic controllers. He also said LoBiondo failed to persuade air carriers to add international flights to Atlantic City International Airport, thus denying the resort new markets.

"The warning signs were there for years," Hughes said.

Four casinos have closed, and owners of the Trump Taj Mahal have threatened to close that gambling hall, taking with it nearly 3,000 jobs, if they don't get state and city aid and union concessions. A federal bankruptcy judge ruled in their favor Friday to nullify the union contract to achieve health-care and pension savings.

"One in five people in Atlantic County is living underneath the poverty line. Should we do something different?" Hughes said.

LoBiondo touted his many union endorsements, including from Unite Here Local 54, the city's largest casino union, as proof he was in touch with his constituents.

"I doubt they would throw their support behind me if they felt I could have done anything differently to prevent what's happened," LoBiondo said.

Last week's Monmouth University poll listed LoBiondo as the preferred candidate on military and veterans affairs, protecting coastal resources, and helping seniors. He is banking on incumbency, name recognition, and a deep war chest to beat Hughes - the same advantages that easily propelled him past Republican challenger Mike Assad in the June 3 primary.

When he heard about the Booker appearance in which the senator plugged Hughes, LoBiondo injected the popular senator's name several times at last week's church event.

"I have worked to put people before politics," LoBiondo said. "I've worked with Sen. Booker on a number of issues affecting Atlantic City." Among them, he said he and the senator were trying to expedite the disbursement of job retraining money for displaced casino workers.

For his part, Hughes appeared at every Unite Here Local 54 protest over the summer and fall on the casino closings. He is approachable and listened intently whenever a voter asked a question.

While the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has focused much of its resources on New Jersey's heated Third District race between Burlington County Freeholder Aimee Belgard and Republican businessman Tom MacArthur, Hughes said LoBiondo's lead wasn't insurmountable. He said as of Sept. 30, he had raised $600,000 for his campaign.

"I don't have $2 million that the 20-year incumbent has, the $2 million in Washington PAC money," Hughes said. "But I have something that is much more powerful. I have a message: to make life better for the people of South Jersey, for the people of Atlantic City."