Rep. Scott Garrett Easily Wins Republican Nomination

WYCKOFF, N.J. — Rep. Scott Garrett beat out two party candidates to receive the Republican Party’s nomination for re-election to an eighth term to represent New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District.

Garrett will face off against Democrat Josh Gottheimer, a former Bill Clinton speechwriter and Microsoft executive from Mahwah. He ran unopposed for his party’s nomination.

According to election results from multiple news outlets, Garrett received more than 41,000 votes, or 82 percent of the vote, compared to just 9 and 8 percent, respectively, for Michael Cino and Peter Vallorosi, who received about 4,700 and 4,100 votes.

Garrett has had some trouble raising money and, although he already has a sizeable amount of cash, about $2.6 million, available in his campaign fund, he’s only received about $1.1 million in net contributions since the beginning of 2015. Gottheimer has received about $2.3 million in that same time frame.

Garrett has received widespread criticism since a Politico report, which citied anonymous sources, reported that Garrett told colleagues that he would not pay due to a Republican campaign fund because it had supported gay candidates.

Several companies and political action committees said they would not longer donate to Garrett.

Gottheimer, who bills himself as a fiscal conservative and social progress, He has received the endorsement of the National Association of Realtors, and the state firefighters and emergency services union.

The 5th district is made up of municipalities in Bergen, Sussex, Passaic, and Warren counties. In Bergen, the municipalities include: Fair Lawn, Franklin Lakes, Glen Rock, Hillsdale, Mahwah, New Milford, Oakland, Oradell, Paramus, Ramsey, Ridgewood, River Edge, Teaneck, Township of Washington, Westwood, and Wyckoff.

PHOTO: Rep. Scott Garrett and John Gottheimer — Patch file photo