A victorious Frank Lautenberg is flanked by his fellow senator from New Jersey, Robert Menendez, left, and NJ Gov. Jon Corzine, on the podium at the Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick.
Photo by Robert Wiener
Results of other key NJ races
U.S. Congress
District 5: U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett (R) was re-elected to a fourth term, defeating Democrat Dennis Shulman, a blind rabbi and psychologist, by a 57-42 percent margin.
District 4: Republican incumbent Chris Smith handily defeated Democratic challenger Josh Zeitz.
District 3: State Sen. John H. Adler (D), defeated Chris Myers, the mayor of Medford and will replace Rep. Jim Saxton (R), who is retiring.
District 11: Republican Rodney Frelinghuysen won his eighth term by winning a rematch with Democrat Tom Wyka.
November 5, 2008
For several hours on election night, the Livingston Ballroom of the Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick took on the aura of New Year’s Eve in Times Square.
As the clock approached 11 p.m. and polls were about to close on the West Coast, two large screens tuned to CNN declared “Barack Obama Elected President.” A victory party for Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who defeated Republican challenger Dick Zimmer 56-44 percent, morphed into a moment of history.
Strangers hugged one another. Loud cheers escalated into a deafening roar. Black people and white, Asians and Latinos, well-dressed executives and workers in jeans had helped elect the first African-American to the White House.
Like others in the audience, members of the Jewish community were pleased at the notion of a President Obama.
Ron Silikovitz of West Orange said Obama “shares our values — children, health, education.” Silikovitz said he “paid no attention” to Republican charges that the president-elect was friendly with terrorists, had anti-Israel advisers, or was not supportive of Jewish concerns.
“It was all a Republican smear campaign,” he said.
While a Tony Bennett recording crooned “The Best Is Yet To Come,” Steve Lager of Ocean Township said he had “no doubts” about Obama’s support of Jewish concerns.
“In the United States, to get elected you have to have a commitment to the Jewish people and be on the side of Israel,” he said.
Clad in a T-shirt with the words “Obama” and “Biden” in both English and Hebrew, Jeff Feldman of Somerset said, “This night is different from all other nights because Barack Obama is a supporter of Israel, and there are lies that he is a Muslim. I think a lot of it was Republican fear-mongering.”
Aligned values
Mitchell Weiss and his wife, Sandra, came from Dunellen with their four children. “They should see this,” he said as he held his seven-month-old baby, Julia, in his arms. An early supporter of Obama, Weiss said he “didn’t see the reason” for the president-elect’s problems with parts of the Jewish community. “My Jewish values align with the values of public responsibility and social welfare.”
Lautenberg told NJ Jewish News he was concerned about the Republican attack on Obama that emanated from the Jewish community. “I thought it was unfair, and I spoke out against it,” he said. “I have a credential there. I have been active in the Jewish community.”
“Barack is very clear,” Gov. Jon Corzine told NJJN. “He has always said a threat to Israel is a threat to America.”
But not everyone in the ballroom agreed. One person in dissent was Tobey Wittlan of East Brunswick, who sported a “Lautenberg for Senate” sticker on her black-and-white checkered jacket.
“I am a lifelong Democrat and I supported all the local Democratic candidates, but I did not vote for Barack Obama,” she said. “I’m Jewish, and I don’t believe he is supportive of Israel.”
As he moved among the media after declaring victory, Lautenberg said he “had no doubts” about his own reelection to a fifth term in the United States Senate. “I knew it would take hard work, and it did — but the outcome was more than satisfactory.”
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