NJ 5th Congressional District Representative Candidate Profile: Josh Gottheimer

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Candidates are set for the Congressional race for New Jersey's 5th District on the Nov. 8 ballot.

In anticipation, Patch sent questionnaires to each of the candidates vying for the 5th Congressional District's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, asking them to share facts about themselves and why voters should choose them to represent the district.

Josh Gottheimer is the incumbent Democratic candidate running for District 5 in the general election against Republican challenger Frank Pallotta.

Here are Gottheimer's responses:

Name:

Josh Gottheimer

Age:

47

Town of residence:

Wyckoff, NJ

Position sought:

New Jersey’s Fifth Congressional District Representative

Party affiliation:

Democratic

Family:

Wife and two kids

Education:

University of Pennsylvania, undergraduate degree. Thouron Fellow at Oxford. Harvard Law School.

Occupation:

New Jersey’s Fifth Congressional District Representative

Why are you running for this office?

I'm a husband and father who believes in the commonsense middle. As your Congressman, I will work and fight for North Jersey families, not for the extremes of either party. I’m sick and tired of the politicians who go to Washington and think they are in the entertainment business, not in the getting things done businesses.

Fighting for our families means working together to get things done: Standing by our veterans, law enforcement, and firefighters. Working to make life more affordable — cutting taxes, lowering prescription drug prices, and getting gas and grocery prices down. It also means fixing our crumbling roads and bridges, fighting crime and gun violence, and ensuring a woman’s privacy and right to choose. These are our Jersey Values.

I’m a problem solver, I love our country, and I’ll work with anyone, Democrat or Republican, if it’s good for Jersey families.

What do you feel is the most important issue facing constituents, and what do you intend to do to repair or resolve it?

We need to cut costs for Jersey families and small businesses. I’ve launched an Affordability Agenda for Jersey to cut costs, tackle supply chain issues, lower prescription drug and food costs, cut taxes, and make life more affordable for families and small businesses in North Jersey. We also need to cut taxes for families and businesses in New Jersey. I’m proud that by working closely with our mayors, councils and first responders, the Fifth District is now up 357% in our federal tax dollars that we’ve clawed back to NJ from Washington, helping to lower our property taxes and make life more affordable and safer.

We must also invest in good policing to protect our families and officers. My bipartisan, bicameral Invest to Protect Act recently passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support — 153 Republicans and 207 Democrats voting for the bill — to ensure that local police departments across our country have what they need to recruit and retain the finest officers, to provide necessary training, and to invest in providing mental health resources for our officers. The bipartisan Invest to Protect Act is supported by Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Joyce Beatty, the National Association of Police Organizations, the Fraternal Order of Police, and local New Jersey law enforcement organizations and departments, including input from the New Jersey State PBA and New Jersey State Fraternal Order of Police. I’ve also fought to claw millions of federal dollars back to the District in the form of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants, Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) 1033 grants, Byrne Justice Assistance Grants (JAG), and other resources to support our communities and local police law enforcement and first responders.

What differentiates you from other candidates?

It's clear that North Jersey will have a distinct choice in November between my commonsense, bipartisan, problem solving approach and a radical extremist who is out of touch with our Jersey Values.

For me governing is not about getting another like on Facebook or putting up another Tweet. Governing is fixing Route 17, building the Gateway Train Tunnel, lowering taxes, supporting our law enforcement, our firefighters, and our schools, fighting terror, protecting the environment, and defending choice, equality, and women’s rights.

I’ve taken on the far-right and stood up to those in my party. I’ve battled congressional leadership who wanted to spend too much. And I’ve always rejected the politics of demonizing the other side, and instead honored hard work and bipartisan problem solving.

I was especially proud to be named as the most bipartisan Democratic Member of the House of Representatives for the third year in a row by the Lugar Center at Georgetown University.

What other issues or ideas do you feel deserve attention?

We are watching in real time the widespread consequences of those who have declared a war on choice, a war on women’s healthcare, and a war on personal privacy. All women have a fundamental right to make personal, private healthcare decisions about their own bodies, lives, and futures. No one should get between a woman, her doctor, and her faith. We must take action to protect a woman’s right to choose, including against new legislative threats to in vitro fertilization, to protect women’s data and privacy on reproductive health apps, and to push to fully codify Roe into federal law.

We must stop these extremists in their tracks from continuing to wage war on women and families. And until we do so, extremists will continue to take away women’s right to choose, even in cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother.

Over the last years, we’ve witnessed an alarming spike in activity from domestic extremist groups threatening our communities with violence and hate — in person, online, and deep in our communities. Unfortunately, the extreme actions and radical ideas of domestic extremist groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys go beyond January 6th. These domestic terrorists have seeped into our communities — putting our families in danger, pitting our neighbors against one another, further dividing our country.

We must combat violent extremism, global and domestic terrorism, antisemitic threats, and all forms of hate wherever it exists and ensure our communities and law enforcement have the resources they need to stay safe and secure.

What accomplishments in your past demonstrate that you are the best candidate for this job?

In Congress, I was chosen by my colleagues as Co-Chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus — 29 Democrats and 29 Republicans strong. We get together every week, with one purpose, to get things done. Not to scream, yell and Tweet nasty things – but to build bridges.

My record in Congress is clear: from helping pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, to the veterans PACT Act, to the bipartisan COVID bill, to the CHIPS Act, I’ve worked across the aisle to find common ground on even the toughest challenges.

I helped get the bipartisan gun safety and criminal justice reform bills done, fought for regulatory relief to help cut red tape, helped take action on the MOU with Israel, fought for the Iron Dome, and have taken a stand against New York’s outrageous Congestion Tax. And I’ve always opposed any attempt by those in Washington or around the country to roll back the clock and stand between a woman, her doctor, and her faith, when making personal health care decisions.

I helped get the bipartisan PACT Act signed into law, which included my key bipartisan provision to examine the impacts toxic exposure has had on our veterans’ mental health. The bipartisan PACT Act will expand access to VA care and benefits to roughly 3.5 million of our brave veterans exposed to burn pits and toxic substances. Of the more than 200,000 veterans who have signed up for the VA’s burn pit registry, 70 percent of claims have been denied. Now, the PACT Act will help change that for Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan-era veterans exposed to toxic substances while serving overseas.

I’ve worked to make sure there are adequate facilities to enable faster care, shorter travel times, and improved access to the benefits veterans have earned.

Thankfully, many of our veterans now don’t need to drive as far to access care, since we successfully opened the VA Sussex Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) in Newton — including in-person mental health care services I fought for — and since we cut through red tape for veterans to receive referrals for health care services at the Newton ImageCare Center.

I’m incredibly proud that my bipartisan, bicameral Invest to Protect Act recently passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support — 153 Republicans and 207 Democrats voting for the bill — to make real progress for public safety by investing in good policing to protect our families and officers. It will ensure that local police departments across our country have what they need to recruit and retain the finest officers, to provide necessary training, and to invest in providing mental health resources for our officers.

I’m also proud to have helped shape and pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill — the largest investment in infrastructure in a century. That bill will create millions of jobs for the next decade and improve North Jersey’s infrastructure, including ports, roads, rails, and bridges, help build the Gateway Train Tunnel between New York and Jersey, address supply chain issues, and boost our local economy. It will help fix hundreds of roads and bridges in New Jersey, invest in our public transportation, help get lead and forever chemicals out of drinking water, address climate-related flooding, invest in broadband, and airport infrastructure — all without increasing the tax burden on North Jersey families.

We also just fought to get the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act signed into law, which is critical legislation to invest in American competitiveness and address major supply chain issues. This bipartisan bill will also boost domestic manufacturing, accelerate U.S. production of semiconductor chips and related equipment, reduce our reliance on foreign countries like China, all while creating new jobs here in the U.S.

I've fought to keep more dollars in our families’ pockets by clawing back more federal dollars to our towns, boroughs, municipalities, and first responders — to lower the impact on our local property taxes.

I recently announced that the Fifth District is now up 357 percent in our federal tax dollars that we’ve clawed back to Jersey from Washington and the Moocher States since I took office, helping to lower our property taxes, make life more affordable and safer, and improve our communities.

Do you want to tell voters anything else about you or your positions?

I was born and raised in North Jersey and live in Bergen County with my wife and two kids.

I’m a bipartisan problem solver who believes in the commonsense middle — and as your Congressman, I will work and fight for you, not for the extremes of either party.

North Jersey expects a common sense representative to get things done, without compromising their principles — not extremists who refuse to negotiate. That’s just not how you govern.

In life, and especially in Congress, I’ve found that if you take the time to talk and listen to one another, instead of just pointing fingers and yelling across the aisle, you can actually get things done. You may not get everything you want — but you can get 80 percent of it.