Pallone Endorses Stephanie Schmid For NJ 4th District In Congress

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — In the least surprising news of August, U.S. Congressman Frank Pallone, a Democrat, endorsed Stephanie Schmid in the race to represent New Jersey's fourth congressional district in Washington.

Schmid is the Democrat nominee seeking to unseat Rep. Chris Smith, the Republican congressman who has represented Central New Jersey in Congress since 1981. He is one of the state's only two remaining Republican congressmen (the other being Jeff Van Drew); Democrats have been trying to win the seat for years.

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.

Pallone is the congressman who represents the area directly to the north, NJ 6. That district stretches from Woodbridge to Asbury Park and includes northern Monmouth County towns such as Matawan, Aberdeen and the Bayshore area of Middletown.

Schmid, 39, worked as a white-collar criminal defense lawyer for Fox Rothschild after her undergrad graduation from Yale University. After that, she worked for seven years as a U.S. diplomat, spending part of that time stationed in Haiti.

“Stephanie’s service to our country as a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer and her dedication to lifting up communities prove that she is the type of leader we need in Washington and in New Jersey,” Pallone said. “I look forward to having a colleague in NJ-04 to work with on critical climate change legislation, as Stephanie and I are both deeply committed to protecting our environment and our beloved Jersey Shore. I know I can count on her to join the rest of New Jersey’s Democratic delegation in the fight to repeal the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap, and she will work tirelessly to ensure that every American has access to affordable healthcare."

Before Schmid decided to run for Congress, she worked as the legal counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights. She helped write the Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights Act of 2019, which Smith, who is against abortion, opposes.

Schmid moved to Little Silver before deciding to run for the Congressional seat. The election will be Nov. 3, the same day as the presidential election.

Related: Chris Smith's Former Intern Is Now Running Against Him (Sept. 2019)

Smith Attacks Schmid On Thank-You Letters, Where She Praises Him (July 14, 2020)

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