Republican Primary Set For 5th District Congressional Seat

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — The 2018 New Jersey primary election is Tuesday, June 5 and there is a contested race for the 7th Congressional District Republican nomination. And the contest has been a somewhat loud one.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer is the incumbent and in his first term. He announced his re-election campaign in Teaneck Friday morning. The district includes parks of Bergen, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren counties. Most of the district's 647,000 residents live in Bergen County.

The Republican challengers facing off Tuesday are Steve Lonegan and Scott McCann. McCann, 57, of Oakland is general counsel to the New Jersey Sheriffs Association and Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino. He has never held elected office.

Lonegan ran for governor twice and against now-incumbent Senator Cory Booker in a special election in 2013 to serve the remainder of the late Frank Lautenberg's term.

Lonegan, a former Bogota mayor, has called McCann "liberal" and "pro-abortion" and has called for an FEC investigation into what he called a “despicable and dishonest” pro-McCann mailer.

“I knew the Democrats backing John McCann would come after me with everything they had, but even I didn’t think they would stoop as low as funneling money through a c4 and flagrantly violating FEC rules to do it,” said Lonegan.

McCann, on the other hand, has said Lonegan is anti-Trump and can’t beat the Democrats. "He’s just an embarrassment," he said.

Related: Rep. Josh Gottheimer Announces Re-Election Campaign

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