What you need to know about the 2nd Congressional District primary – Press of Atlantic City

The 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary race is one of the most hotly contested in the nation, and will be decided in the state's first mainly vote-by-mail primary election.

Emotions have run high in the district ever since freshman Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who was elected as a Democrat, switched parties to Republican after voting "no" on impeaching President Donald Trump.

Van Drew's actions angered and motivated Democrats, who have been fighting hard to replace him.

The district covers all or part of the state's eight southernmost counties.

Five Democrats are vying for the right to try to unseat Van Drew, while Van Drew faces only one Republican opponent, who pundits say has little organizational support or financing.

Gov. Phil Murphy ordered the election to be mostly vote-by-mail in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to minimize close physical contact at the polls by voters to avoid spreading the coronavirus. He moved the primary to July 7 from its traditional June date to give counties more time to get vote-by-mail ballots and information to voters.

One candidate has asked for federal oversight of the election because of a history of alleged vote-by-mail irregularities in the district, but the U.S. Attorney's Office has not responded to the request.

The three leading candidates are two women and a Black man, and if any of them prevail in the fall it would be historic. Only white men have represented the district throughout its history.

The 2nd District is geographically the state's largest, requiring primary candidates to vie for the support of eight different county party organizations, requiring candidates to travel a great deal to meet with voters. The pandemic, however, has forced candidates to do most of their campaigning since March online.

Below is an alphabetical list of the candidates (Democrats, then Republicans). The list includes basic biographical information and positions on some major issues.

CUNNINGHAM

Will Cunningham, 34, of Vineland, holds a law degree and formerly worked for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and for the House Oversight Committee under late Chairman Elijah Cummings.

Health care: Fully supports Medicare for All.

Police reform: Supports Justice in Policing Act, elimination of qualified immunity for police, and outlawing chokeholds and no-knock warrants.

Cannabis: Supports full legalization of recreational marijuana for adult use on the national level by removing it from the federal Controlled Substances Act,and expungement of records for those convicted of marijuana offenses.

Climate: Only candidate to support full enactment of the Green New Deal.

FRANCIS

West Cape May Commissioner John Francis, 73, is the author of "Planetwalker: 17 Years of Silence, 22 Years of Walking" and "The Ragged Edge of Silence: Finding Peace in a Noisy World." He holds a Ph.D. in environmental science and has worked for the U.S. Coast Guard.

Health care: Supports serious consideration of Medicare for All.

Police reform: Supports Justice in Policing Act, favors eliminating qualified immunity for police, eliminating chokeholds and in general opposes no-knock warrants, but says under extreme circumstances they may be necessary.

Cannabis: Favors legalization for adult use and promotion of cannabis growing in South Jersey, with municipalities allowed to decide if it will be grown within their borders.

Climate: Sees environmental problems as interrelated with how people treat each other, and focuses on improving people's relationships to themselves and others to protect the environment.

ATLANTIC CITY Advocates for legalizing recreational cannabis talked about how creating a n

HARRISON

Brigid Callahan Harrison, 55, of Longport, is a professor of politics and law at Montclair State University in Essex County.

Health care: Supports a single-payer system that allows people to keep private insurance and sunsets agreements already made with labor unions, which would negotiate cost-of-living increases once the government takes over the provision of health care.

Police reform: Supports Justice in Policing Act, elimination of qualified immunity for police, and outlawing chokeholds and no-knock warrants.

Cannabis: Supports full legalization of recreational marijuana for adult use, regulating it through the federal government and expungement of records for those convicted of marijuana offenses.

Climate: Favors total ban on offshore drilling off New Jersey, rejoining Paris Climate Agreement and 100% clean energy by 2050.

{child_flags:top_story}Candidates divided on recreational marijuana

KENNEDY

Amy Kennedy, 41, of Brigantine, holds a master's degree in environmental education, taught at the Northfield Community School and is now the education director of the Kennedy Forum, a nonprofit dedicated to mental health and addiction issues.

Health care: Favors moving away from a system that ties health care to employment, expansion of the Affordable Care Act and making sure Medicare will be available to all those who want it.

Police reform:Supports Justice in Policing Act, elimination of qualified immunity for police, and outlawing chokeholds and no-knock warrants.

Cannabis: Does not support recreational legalization, but favors decriminalization and expungement of records for those convicted of low-level marijuana offenses.

Climate: Supports the 100% Clean Energy Economy Act to reach a net-zero economy by 2050 and the CLEAN Future Act, which would give governments and the private sector support and flexibility to address climate change.

TURKAVAGE

Robert Turkavage, 64, of Brigantine, is a retired FBI agent who switched parties to Democrat late last year because of his opposition to President Donald Trump.

Health care: Favors preserving the Affordable Care Act, including pre-existing conditions coverage, by reinstating the individual mandate penalty.

Police reform: Favors better training for police officers and more careful use of, but not elimination of, no-knock warrants.

Cannabis: Opposes legalization for recreational use and favors dropping criminal charges for possession of small amounts to a misdemeanor.

Climate: Supports maintaining methane-related regulations and would advocate for a return to the vehicle fuel economy standards sought by the Obama administration. Favors reentering the Paris Climate Agreement to combat greenhouse gases and other pollutants.

PATTERSON

Bob Patterson recently moved his permanent address to Ocean City from Haddonfield, Camden County, to run in the district. He was the Republican nominee who ran in 2018 against Rep. Donald Norcross, D-1st, in the district that covers Camden and its surroundings. After a long career in business and government, he worked for the Trump administration as a senior adviser and acting associate commissioner at the Social Security Administration.

Economy: Favors supporting neglected economic sectors at home, such as manufacturing, transportation and defense industries, to build up the working and middle classes.

Immigration: Favors ensuring American jobs go to American workers, building a wall along Americas southern border, creating a foolproof entry-and-exit system and establishing an airtight employment-verification system. Opposes amnesty deals.

Israel: Supports continued military aid to Israel and continued investment in economic and military partnerships with Israel, and President Donald Trumps decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.

Abortion: Strongly pro-life and opposes support for Planned Parenthood.

Gun rights: Fervent supporter of Second Amendment rights.

The Democrats vying to challenge Jeff Van Drew in the 2nd Congressional District agree that

VAN DREW (INCUMBENT)

Jeff Van Drew, 67, was first elected to Congress in 2018 as a Democrat. The district had been held by Republican Frank LoBiondo for more than 20 years. Van Drew, a dentist, spent decades in the state Legislature as an assemblyman and then a senator.

Economy: Wants to bring manufacturing jobs back to South Jersey and promote tourism, and favors government doing more to help the agriculture and fishing industries.

Immigration: Favors comprehensive reform, strengthening border security, cracking down on employers who violate laws, increasing the accessibility of visas for high-skilled workers, and allowing law-abiding immigrants to earn citizenship and pay taxes.

Israel: Favors the U.S. position that the State of Israel has an undeniable right to exist and thrive with the same sense of security and economic self-determination as any other nation in the Middle East.

Abortion: Pro-choice, but opposes late-term abortions.

Gun rights: Strong supporter of Second Amendment rights.

Congressman Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd, made national news in his freshman year in Congress, which he started as a Democrat and ended as a Republican.

Long known as a moderate in the state Assembly and Senate, many thought Van Drew would continue to be a solid Democrat who occasionally deviated from the party on issues like gun rights, after he was elected in 2018 to fill the seat of longtime Congressman Frank LoBiondo, a moderate Republican.

But right from the start, Van Drew set himself apart by voting "no" for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker -- fulfilling a campaign promise but confusing those on the House floor. He was supposed to call out a name of someone for speaker, so his "no" vote was recorded as "present."

Then he was one of the few Democrats calling for bipartisan compromise on a budget to end what became the longest federal government shutdown in history. Later, he visited the southern border and came back saying there was, indeed, a crisis there. He supported both some funding for a border wall, and increased funding for housing and services to undocumented migrants. Van Drew was also one of just two Demcorats to first vote against proceeding with an impeachment inquiry, and to vote against both articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.

And on Dec. 19, 2019, he announced his party change to Republican while sitting next to Trump in the Oval Office.

Brian T. Fitzherbert (dropped out of race Jan. 24, 2020), 30, of Egg Harbor Township, founded the Atlantic County Young Republicans and ran in 2018 in the Republican primary, but withdrew before the primary that was won by Seth Grossman.

Fitzherbert stresses his knowledge of technology and aviation as an advantage for him to help develop those industries in South Jersey. He is a Program Manager for defense contractor L3Harris, working on multimillion dollar programs for military vehicles. Previously, he developed drones, ground control stations, electronic warfare testers, simulators, and area attack weapons supporting the Warfighter at Textron Systems.

He graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and completed his graduate studies at the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, studying systems engineering and project management.

He has racked up endorsements from a wide variety of local officials, including former Assemblyman and Cumberland County Freeholder Sam Fiocchi and Northfield Mayor Erland Chau.

David Richter, 53, the former CEO of Hill International in Philadelphia, is an engineer, lawyer and businessman. He recently moved to Avalon from Princeton, but summered much of his life in the Cape May County town.

He switched races to the 3rd Congressional District, which covers Ocean and Burlington counties, on Jan. 27.

I understand what it takes to get things built, said Richter. In Congress, I plan to work hard to ensure the federal government is investing in South Jerseys infrastructure expanding our transportation network, keeping our environment clean and maintaining our coastline.

Richter earned two bachelors degrees and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as masters degrees from Oxford and Harvard universities, he said.

He and his wife, Michelle, have been married for 20 years and have four daughters.

Patterson has homes in Haddonfield and Ocean City, and ran in 2018 against Congressman Donald Norcross, D-1st, in the district that covers Camden and its surroundings.

Patterson, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, said he is running for Congress to protect conservative values and make South Jersey great again. His priorities are protecting American jobs, restoring manufacturing in South Jersey, ending unfair trade deals, and securing the nation's borders.

Patterson recently worked in the Trump administration as a senior adviser and acting associate commissioner at the Social Security Administration. Prior to that he worked as vice president for government relations at the U.S. Business & Industry Council (USBIC), an organization committed to strengthening U.S. manufacturing and opposing unfair trade deals.

Ashley Bennett, 35, a Democrat elected to the Atlantic County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 2017, faces re-election in 2020 as she runs for the right to challenge Congressman Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd.

A psychiatric emergency screener at Cape Regional Medical Center, shedecided to run for freeholder after the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, and in response to a Facebook posting by then-Atlantic County Freeholder John Carman. It was about the Womens March in January that questioned whether the women would be home in time to make dinner. Bennett ran for and won Carmans seat.

West Cape May Commissioner John Francis, 73, has a colorful and unusual biography, and he wrote about it in a book published by National Geographic called, "Planet Walker: 22 years of walking, 17 years of silence." Francis spent many of his younger adult years refusing to ride in cars or other vehicles that use fossil fuels, after seeing the results of an oil spill on the Pacific coast. He also stopped speaking for 17 years, in order to learn to listen, he said. During that time, however, he earned a bachelor's, master's and doctorate, became an expert in oil spill cleanup, and worked for the Coast Guard. Now he travels the world as a motivational speaker, he said.

He learned in his silent travels about the interconnectedness of all issues, Francis said. "Really it's all about people and how we treat each other. It's going to manifest in the physical environment." So he said his focus in Congress would not just be on environmentalism, but on human and civil rights, gender equality and economic equity and human relationships "as the foundation for what happens in the environment. You have to be really interested in everything."

Brigid Callahan Harrison, Professor, Montclair State University at Murphys Marks: The Governors Freshman Report Card at the Atlantic City Convention. Nov. 14 , 2018, (Craig Matthews / Staff Photographer)

Longport's Brigid Callahan Harrison, 54, is a professor of politics and law at Montclair State University in Essex County. She has been endorsed for by State Senate President Steve Sweeney, by six of the eight county Democratic chairs in the Second Congressional District, and by others.

Long a commenter in the media about New Jersey politics, this is Harrision's first run for office.

KENNEDY

Amy Kennedy, of Brigantine, 41, is a former teacher and the wife of former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy, with whom she has five children. She announced Jan. 6 she will run in the 2020 Democratic primary.

Kennedy, now a mental health advocate, said she and her husband have supported Van Drew in the past, but he has clearly lost his way.

Our nation is in crisis. Our political system is in crisis. Our environment is in crisis," Kennedy wrote in a press statement. "We have serious unaddressed needs in our schools and in our mental health and addiction system. Our economy, though strong, is not meeting the needs of the underserved and middle class.

Freeholder Jack Surrency on Election Day 2016.

Jack Surrency, of Bridgeton, is a Democratic freeholder in Cumberland County, was reported to be running for a time, but ultimately decided to run for re-election as a freeholder instead.

He was first elected to the Bridgeton City Council in 2010 as part of a slate headed by Mayor Albert Kelly, and served on the Bridgeton Board of Education from 2002-2010, according to his resume.

He attended the Tuskegee Institute from 1976-1978, majoring in chemistry with a business minor. He also holds a master's degree in Community and Economic Development from New Hampshire College in Manchester.

TURKAVAGE

Robert Turkavage, 64, is a former FBI agent and manager out of New York. He has recently switched parties to become a Democrat, after a lifetime in the GOP.

Turkavage last ran in the 2018 Republican primary for the 2nd District race, losing to Seth Grossman, and this time is running as a Democrat.

He changed his party affiliation because the Republicans have increased the national debt by $3.1 billion as a result of tax cuts that benefited the wealthy, he said, and because of Prseident Trump's attacks on the press and the intelligence community.

Its going to be challenging, Turkavage said Tuesday of breaking through in a crowded Democratic field. I will be knocking on doors every day from January till primary day on June 2.

Will Cunningham, a Vineland native and former staffer for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, is running for the Democratic nomination for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District.

Will Cunningham, 34, a native of Vineland who has worked for Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, and now works for the House Oversight Committee in Washington, D.C., announced Jan. 8 he was entering the Democratic primary for the 2nd Congressional District.

He ran against Van Drew in the Democratic primary in 2018, and said he has the most experience in Washington, D.C., of all the candidates in the race of either party.

Cunningham said he was homeless for a time as a teen when his mom lost her job. He said his mom is still an hourly worker in Cumberland County, making $11.50 an hour. Yet with hard work and the help of government programs, he was able to get an Ivy League college education at Brown University. He also has a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

"Despite my accomplishments, I have not lost touch with how folks struggle to make ends meet," Cunningham said. "I don't have to look far."

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What you need to know about the 2nd Congressional District primary - Press of Atlantic City