Former Burlington County Mayor Enters Congressional Race

A controversial former Burlington County mayor has entered the race to challenge Rep. Andy Kim (D-3) in this year’s congressional elections.

Former Hainesport Mayor Anthony Porto has announced his intention to run for Congress in the Third Congressional District. He joins Burlington County Freeholder Kate Gibbs and Barnegat Mayor John Novak as candidates in the Republican Primary.

Porto told Insider NJ he is running to bring conservative priorities back to Washington. He said that job is “too important to leave it up to a candidate who lost her seat to a Burlington County Democrat a month after he dropped out of the race.”

He was referring to Gibbs, who lost her seat on the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders to George Youngkin and Felicia Hopson in 2017. Youngkin dropped out a month before election day after allegations of domestic violence emerged, and subsequently resigned his seat.

Porto has faced his own controversies. The two-time former Hainesport Mayor was defeated in the 2017 Republican Primary after he came under fire for posting a sexist meme targeting a female Democratic opponent, according to the New Jersey Globe.

Porto was first elected to the Burlington County Republican Committee when he was 18, according to his profile on his campaign site. He has also served on the Hainesport and served four terms on Hainesport Township Committee, including two runs as mayor.

The deadline to file petitions to run in the primaries is March 30, while the deadline for third-party candidates to file petitions to run in the general election is June 2.

The deadline to register to vote is May 12. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is 3 p.m. on June 1, and the deadline to return an absentee ballot is 8 p.m. on June 2. Election Day is Nov. 3.

For more on how to register and how to find your polling location, visit the state's website.