Challengers line up to take on Ferguson

by Enid Weiss
NJJN Bureau Chief/Central

Four men have filed petitions to be on the November ballot to win the congressional seat in New Jersey’s seventh district, but the question remains whether someone can beat incumbent Michael “Mike” Ferguson.

Ferguson is a Republican in a district spanning several counties that was reconfigured to include many traditionally Republican-leaning towns.

The two-term congressman took nearly 59 percent of the vote in 2002. He also has a nearly $2 million war chest, bolstered by an appearance by President George W. Bush at a June 24 fund-raiser and donations from individuals and Jewish groups who appreciate his support for Israel.

He recently recalled a Jewish couple in Edison, on the southern end of his district, who have hosted fund-raisers for him through NORPAC, a pro-Israel political action committee. He said several members of his finance committee also are members of American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the nonpartisan pro-Israel lobby group based in Washington, DC.

“I’m proud of the relationships I’ve forged with the pro-Israel community in our area,” Ferguson, a Catholic, said in a telephone interview with NJ Jewish News from the House floor. (He interrupted the interview several times to vote on various issues before Congress.) “Israel has been our ally in the war against terror, and terrorism is in the forefront of voters’ minds.”

Ferguson’s challengers include Democrat Steve Brozak, Libertarian Thomas D. Abrams, and Independent Matthew Angus Williams.

His biggest threat is Brozak, who lives in Westfield. The former investment banker and Marine served three years in active duty and 18 years in the reserves, including deployments to Haiti, Bosnia, and the Middle East. His mother is French and grew up in occupied Marseilles; his father is from Yugoslavia and was in a Nazi prisoner of war camp. Brozak is Episcopalian.

Abrams also was on the ballot as a candidate for the House in District 12 in 2002. In 2001 he ran for a seat in the state Senate in District 15. Williams is a musician.

FEC fine
Brozak said he suspects domestic issues will play a bigger role in the election than foreign policy. Despite Ferguson’s confidence in the Republican population of the district, Brozak claims current polls show them in a close race.

Brozak was a Republican for 20 years before switching sides and running as a self-described conservative-Democrat with strong commitments to choice on the abortion issue and stem-cell research. But despite support from Democrats nationally, his coffers contain roughly $200,000, according to opensecrets.com.

At nearly every campaign stop, Brozak likes to point out that Ferguson was fined $210,000 by the Federal Election Commission in 2003 for loaning his 2000 congressional campaign $525,000 from a trust fund his parents had set up for him. Ferguson has argued that he made the loan under legal counsel and that he didn’t challenge the fine in order to avoid a lengthy legal battle.

“They acknowledged we did nothing wrong,” Ferguson said, referring to the FEC. “I think it’s a non-issue in the campaign. In essence it was a disagreement among lawyers.”

Despite Brozak’s challenge, Ferguson is confident.

“Our district is solidly Republican, and I have a strong record of accomplishment,” he said. “We’ve worked hard to grow the economy…. I’m proud to draw votes from Republicans and Democrats on issues. A lot of Jewish and other voters say to me, ‘I’ve never voted Republican in my life, and I’m a supporter of yours because of Israel and your position on the war on terror.’”

Brozak is quick to point out that Ferguson has voted with Bush on more than 90 percent of the issues.

Ferguson also points to his record, which includes votes for tax cuts, Medicare reform, and homeland security efforts that, he said, have improved daily life for Americans. Meanwhile, Brozak said he would call for tax cuts only to businesses that create and manufacture jobs in the United States, not to those that outsource jobs overseas.

Abrams and Williams could not be reached as of press time for this article. Neither Ferguson nor Brozak expected the two other candidates to affect the race.

“This race is between myself and Mike Ferguson,” said Brozak, “and I’m going to make sure people know the difference.”

They differ on whether the presidential race would affect the outcome in the seventh district. Ferguson said his numbers were higher than Bush’s in the 2000 election and speculated that a higher turnout would mean more Republicans voting. But support for Bush is wavering, said Brozak, who aims to ride a wave of discontent linking Ferguson and Bush.

Brozak said of Bush, “People are tired of being lied to.”

Enid Weiss can be reached at enid@njjewishnews.com.