Your Republican Congressman Was Not at the RNC This Week

Holmdel, NJ - Did Rep. Chris Smith attend the Republican National Convention this week?

Nope.

Instead of Cleveland, the 4th District House Republican, who represents parts of Monmouth, Ocean and Mercer, was at a ribbon-cutting in Holmdel Wednesday morning at Bell Works Labs, according to the Congressman's Twitter feed.

"Congressman Smith does not have an official role in Cleveland, having stepped aside for his hometown mayor, Hamilton’s Kelly Yeade, to be the Mercer delegate on the ballot this year, her first time ever," said Jeff Sagnip, a spokesman for Rep. Smith, when asked why he did not attend. "He was in Monmouth County yesterday to mark the $40 million in federal credits that helped make the Bell Labs project move ahead, then onto meetings in Holmdel and Middletown with opponents of the monster power lines (who requested the meetings), which he also opposes. He also went to the Joint Base in Ocean County and met with the emergency response task force."

Smith, a Republican, represents New Jersey's Fourth Congressional District, which reaches from Middletown and Holmdel all the way down into Jackson and Plumstead in Ocean County. The 4th District also stretches west into Hamilton Township in Mercer County. He is the longest-serving member of New Jersey's Congressional delegation. A Roman Catholic, he is known as one of Congress' most outspoken critics of abortion.

The rest of northern Monmouth County — Hazlet, Keyport, part of Middletown and Matawan — is in New Jersey's 6th District, represented by Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat. See a map of New Jersey's Congressional Districts here.

Smith isn't the only New Jersey Republican playing hooky from Donald Trump's convention. In fact, only six out of the 11 Republican House members from the Garden State are in Cleveland this week. The other five said they had business back home this week, NJ.com reported. Other Republican elected officials across the country have provided a variety of reasons for why they did not attend the RNC:

• "No, I've got to mow my lawn." An Associated Press reporter said she overheard Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake say that when asked why he would not attend.
• Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse: A spokesman for the senator said he would "take his kids to watch some dumpster fires across the state, all of which enjoy more popularity than the current front-runners,” The Hill reported.