With nation watching, Holt and Zimmer square off

With less than two months until election day, a New Jersey race has grabbed the national spotlight.

The 12th Congressional District contest — between incumbent Democrat Rush Holt and former Republican congressman Dick Zimmer — is being targeted by both parties and watched by pundits and politicians as an indicator of voters' moods in the heart of a major swing state.

Holt, who was formerly the assistant director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, won one of the biggest upsets of 1998, slipping past Rep. Mike Pappas by a 50-49 percent margin to take a seat for the Democrats in a bizarre midterm election falling just prior to President Clinton's impeachment.

Now Zimmer, who held the 12th district seat before losing a race for the New Jersey Senate in 1996, is back to reclaim the office for the GOP and help the Republican party hold on to a dangerously slim majority in the House. Zimmer, who was a lecturer at the Wilson School from 1997 to 2000, defeated Pappas in the Republican primary by a large margin.

Zimmer's campaign manager John Holub said earlier this week that he is very optimistic about his candidate's chances.

Holub said Zimmer's status as a former member of Congress is helping his bid for election this time around. "Dick Zimmer was a very effective, respected congressman," he said. "People want him back. People know him well."

But Holt's campaign manager, Mark Matzen, said he believes his candidate can defeat the Republican challenger.

"Not much has changed since November 1998, when Rush knew that he would be opposed by a former member of Congress. I feel really good about running on Rush's record," Matzen said.

In the 1998 win, Holt took advantage of mistakes made by his opponent. Pappas tried to use the controversy over Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky against Holt in the race and the tactic backfired, according to the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call.

This year, the national political scene again could be an important factor in the 12th district, with a competitive presidential race as well as high-profile senate races in New Jersey and New York.

But Matzen downplayed the influence of the national political environment on the local election. "This race will be won or lost on the issues. If we keep this on the issues, we have a real advantage," he said.

Zimmer, too, is trying to keep his campaign focused on the issues — a popular stance in this election year. He is running a simple campaign sticking to a basic Republican message, but with a bit of a leftward twist. He talks about fiscal responsibility, education and crime, but is trumpeting his commitment to the environment and campaign finance reform.

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Holt, too, is waving the popular banner of campaign finance reform, along with some of the other usual suspects.

"Rush firmly believes there's a role for the federal government to play in schools," Matzen said. "Towns need help from the federal government on things like school construction." Matzen also stressed protecting Social Security and the environment as major issues in the campaign.