Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer faces off against Republican Frank Pallotta in New Jersey's 5th Congressional District election
- Rep. Josh Gottheimer is running against Republican Frank Pallotta in New Jersey's 5th Congressional District.
- The 5th District stretches through northern New Jersey.
Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer faces off against Republican Frank Pallotta in a rematch in New Jersey's 5th Congressional District.
New Jersey's 5th Congressional District candidates
Gottheimer, first elected in 2016, is vying for a fourth term in Washington, DC. In Congress, Gottheimer serves on the House Committees on Financial Services and Homeland Security. He also co-chairs the Problem Solvers Caucus.
Prior to his time in Congress, Gottheimer worked in the Clinton White House as one of the youngest presidential speechwriters in history. After leaving the White House, he worked at the Ford Motor Company and served as senior counselor to the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Gottheimer also worked at Microsoft as general manager for corporate strategy.
The 5th District was held by Republicans for nearly four decades until Gottheimer ousted seven-term Rep. Scott Garrett by 4 percentage points in 2016.
Pallotta, Gottheimer's twice-challenger, is the co-founder of a New Jersey-based small business that helped struggling homeowners and veterans who were affected by the financial crisis in 2008.
He ran in the general election for New Jersey's 5th Congressional District in 2020, only to lose to Gottheimer, 45.6% to 53.2%.
Voting history for New Jersey's 5th Congressional District
New Jersey's 5th Congressional District stretches through northern New Jersey from Bergen County into some of the more rural areas on the state's western flank.
Joe Biden had a just over 5 percentage point margin of victory over President Donald Trump under the district's previous boundaries in 2020 before the once-in-a-decade redistricting process following the 2020 Census made it safer for Democratic candidates.
The money race
According to OpenSecrets, Gottheimer has raised $8 million, spent $2.7 million, and is sitting on an extraordinarily large reserve of $13.7 million, as of October 19. His challenger, Pallotta, has raised $913,000, spent $673,000, and has $263,000 still left to spend, as of October 19.
As of November 3, several super PACs, national party committees, politically active nonprofits, and other non-candidate groups have together spent more than $4.5 million to advocate for or against candidates in this race, including during the race's primary phase. House Majority PAC, a Democratic hybrid PAC backing Gottheimer, alone accounts for the vast majority of that spending.
What experts say
The race between Gottheimer and Pallotta is rated as "likely Democratic" by The Cook Political Report, and "likely Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.