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The two Democratic primary candidates in New Jerseys 2nd Congressional District, vying for the right to face incumbent U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd, in November, both said they joined the party in 2008 to vote in the presidential primary between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Carolyn Rush, an engineer from Sea Isle City, backed Clinton, hoping to help elect the first woman president of the United States.

Tim Alexander, a civil rights attorney and former law enforcement officer from Galloway Township, backed Obama in the hopes of electing the first Black president.

Now Alexander, 57, and Rush, 60, are presenting voters with a similar choice in the June 7 primary.

If elected, either of the two candidates would make history. It would be the first time either a Black man or a woman of any race represented New Jerseys 2nd District in Congress.

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Both are strongly pro-choice, support lowering the age for Medicare eligibility to expand health care coverage, and both are focused on the need to bring better paying jobs to South Jersey while also combating climate change. Both cite social justice, civil rights and LGBTQ rights as major priorities.

Second district Democratic congressional candidates are hoping their voters will be extra mo

Rush, however, sees herself as a minority of a different kind. Only 4% of congressional representatives are engineers, she said. In contrast, she said, about 40% are attorneys like Alexander.

Given the need to move forward on climate change and other technology-related issues, its best to increase engineers in Congress, Rush said.

Alexander, who has racked up endorsements from most county committees and from big names including former congressional candidate Amy Kennedy and former Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo, D-Atlantic, said he has had people of color tell him they are backing him and feel its important to have more Black representatives.

There are a lot of people who say, Weve got your back. I appreciate that from the perspective of being a Black man, he said.

The Collective PAC was one of his earliest endorsers, he said. It backs minority candidates running for the first time.

But he wants to keep the focus on the issues.

Democratic 2nd District congressional candidate Carolyn Rush is lashing out against her own

It will be historic, but thats not what this race is about, Alexander said. Its about the economy. I want issues to be the reason people come out to vote.

He also feels strongly that Democrats should not focus on beating each other, but on beating the incumbent.

I have always been running against Jeff Van Drew, not my primary opponents, Alexander said.

Alexander and Rush joined the party in a year that saw a major increase in Democratic registration nationally, largely due to heightened interest in the primary that year.

Registered Democrats went from about 39 million in 2006 to more than 43 million in 2008, while Republican voters remained steady at about 30 million.

As of June 2021, each party has gained about 6 million new registered voters. Democratic registration is at about 49 million, and Republican registration is at about 36 million.

Democratic congressional candidate Carolyn Rush may continue to use her slogan in Atlantic C

Alexander had always tended to vote Democratic, he said, but didnt join the party until 2008 because he was working for the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office and didnt want to be accused of favoring one party in investigations of voter fraud.

But the chance to vote for the first Black president made him declare himself a Democrat.

Without a doubt I knew it could cause me some backlash, Alexander said. I wanted to vote for Obama. I didnt want to have to tell my grandchildren if I have them that I didnt support Obama (in his bid for the nomination).

Rush said she, too, had always voted Democratic, but never found it necessary to vote in the New Jersey primaries because they happen too late to affect the party choice to run for president.

I wanted to vote for Hillary Clinton, Rush said. In hindsight I think it had pretty much been decided, but I was glad I did it. It was the right thing to do.

Although she didnt win any of the Democratic county committee endorsements in the six south

By 2012 she was such a fan of Obama, however, she volunteered for his reelection campaign. It was the first time she became involved in a political campaign, she said.

I just thought it was time for a strong and powerful woman, and she was that, Rush said of Clinton in 2008. I had wanted her, but I was thrilled with him.

REPORTER: Michelle Brunetti Post

609-841-2895

mpost@pressofac.com

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Democratic 2nd Congressional District primary opponents mirror Obama/Clinton race that brought them into party - Press of Atlantic City