Here Are The 3 Democrats Trying To Unseat Rep. Chris Smith

It's not just Biden vs. Trump this year, as longtime Monmouth and Ocean Republican Congressman Chris Smith will again seek to hold onto his seat from a line-up of Democratic challengers.

Running against Smith is former U.S. diplomat and lawyer Stephanie Schmid, Christine Conforti, a former Americorp service member and United Nations staffer, and Red Bank media strategist David Applefield, all Democrats.

Alter Eliezer Richter is the Republican long-shot challenging Smith.

The primary is July 7 and right now it appears Schmid is the leading contender for the Dems, having secured the endorsement of the Monmouth County Democratic party this week.

Schmid won the Monmouth County Democratic Convention in April, earning 62 percent of the votes cast. This also means she will be placed "on the line" as the official Democratic candidate at the ballot box.

However, Conforti made waves when the Mercer County Democratic Party chose her for its endorsement over Schmid.

Before Schmid decided to run for Congress, she worked as the legal counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights, which has the goal of increasing access to abortion and abortion rights. (Smith is opposed to abortion.) From North Jersey originally, Schmid lived in D.C. but moved back to New Jersey last June, to Little Silver in the Fourth District.

Schmid also used to work as a diplomat with the U.S. State Department and was stationed in Haiti. As a teen, she once interned for Smith.

However, she is facing somewhat of a challenge from Conforti, a Holmdel native who now lives in Ocean Grove. Conforti is running as a more far-left progressive than Schmid: Conforti supports Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, according to her campaign site. She also wants the U.S. government to pay people $2,000 a month in universal basic income for 12 months due to the COVID pandemic. Just this month, she got the backing of Our Revolution Monmouth, the local chapter of the national progressive group.

"There are strong differences between myself and my opponent Stephanie Schmid with regards to prioritizing people over corporate profits, which the public should be well informed about," said Conforti.

The fourth congressional district covers nearly all of Monmouth County, including towns such as Holmdel, part of Middletown, Colts Neck, Rumson, Manalapan, Freehold, Red Bank and Wall Township. The fourth district also reaches into Jackson and Lakewood in Ocean County and Hamilton and Robbinsville in Mercer County.

After the 2018 midterms, the 4th district became the only district in New Jersey to remain with a Republican congressman, after the state's four other Republican congressman — Tom MacArthur, Leonard Lance, Rodney Frelinghuysen and Chris LoBiondo — either lost their seats or chose not to run. However, then Rep. Jeff Van Drew switched parties after the Trump impeachment and he and Smith are now New Jersey's two Republican congressman.

The fourth district has voted for a Republican in the past four presidential elections by comfortable margins: Trump, Romney, McCain and Bush.

Smith is a congressional lifer: He has represented New Jersey's Fourth District for an incredible 20 terms. He was first elected to Congress in 1981 and has remained there ever since. Democrats have sought for years — without success — to unseat him. Will 2020 be their chance?

The primary is July 7.