Adler becomes first Dem to hold seat since 1882

By Robert Spahr

MOUNT LAUREL - State Sen. John Adler, D-Camden, made history Tuesday night, defeating Republican Chris Myers to become the first Democrat elected to represent the 3rd Congressional District in the House of Representatives in more than a century.

Adler edged Myers in a high-profile race that has been hotly contested since U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton, R-3rd, announced he was going to retire last November due to health issues. Saxton represented the 3rd District since he was elected to an unexpired term in 1984 to fill a seat vacated by Edwin B. Forsythe, who died in office.

As of 11 p.m., preliminary totals still showed Myers was ahead of Adler by 4,000 voters with 67 percent of the polls reporting. However, Adler said Myers called to concede the election at about 10:15 p.m.

"The call was brief," Adler said. "I thanked him for the ideas he brought to the race and offered him to sit down with me in the upcoming days and share some of those ideas with me, which he graciously accepted."

Myers said the early vote totals out of Willingboro, which he said has a higher minority population than most of the district's municipalities, were enough in Adler's favor to put the race out of reach.

"It was a bad year to be a Republican," said Myers, who referred to the high number of defeats Republicans suffered nationwide Tuesday night. "But we kept it close, within 1 or 2 percent, which is not the case for many other guys. We're still looking at the absentee ballots, but we don't think they are going to be enough."

With the victory, Adler will be the first Democrat to represent the 3rd District since 1882.

"That's the sound of going 120 years without a Democrat in office," Adler said to the roar of cheers he received when he took the stage to give his victory speech shortly after 10:30 p.m. "We won! Congratulations."

The traditionally Republican stronghold of Ocean County, which overwhelmingly supported Saxton in the 2006 election, went to Myers by more than 15,000 voters.

But the Democrats considered Adler's relatively close defeat in that key battleground a victory.

Myers admitted that his low margin of victory in Ocean County did play a huge role in his defeat.

"We won there, but it was not enough to offset what happened in Willingboro," Myers said.

Myers, a vice president with Lockheed Martin, handily defeated Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly and Tabernacle businessman Justin Murphy in June's primary. Adler was unopposed in the primary.

The last estimates by each of the campaigns showed Adler out-earned Myers by more than $1 million.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also independently spent $1.48 million in support of Adler, while the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee spent $842,000 in support of Myers, according to estimates released by Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper.

Adler, a graduate of Harvard Law School, also received a clear majority of the endorsements between the two candidates, garnering support from more than about three-dozen organizations, many of which formerly supported Saxton.

When asked what it was like to be the first Republican to lose a 3rd District election in 120 years, Myers said: "What can I say? It was just a terrible year all around. We lost all three freeholder seats in Burlington County, which were also Republican forever. That tells you what kind of year it was right there."

To close his speech, Adler thanked all of his supporters and even people who did not vote for him. Then he asked them all to pray for him.

Adler said there are "many serious issues currently facing the nation," and he would need the public's help and support to guide him in correct decision-making.

When asked what he'd have to do to bring the district together after a heated campaign, Adler said, "I have to do a good job in Washington."

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