Holt, Zimmer face off in close election

Residents of New Jersey's 12th Congressional District will step into the voters' booth today to cast their ballots in one of the tightest and most-watched contests in the country.

The race — between Democratic incumbent Rush Holt and former Republican congressman Dick Zimmer — is being scrutinized by both parties as the Democrats try to regain the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives while Republicans scramble to maintain their six-seat advantage.

The race is neck-and-neck with different polls showing each candidate in the lead. But though there is no obvious leader, both campaigns are hopeful.

"We are very optimistic and we feel we have a solid lead going into tomorrow," Zimmer's campaign manager John Holub said yesterday. "We have received tremendous support on the campaign trail and feel it will continue."

The Zimmer campaign received a boost Sunday when Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) visited New Jersey to stump for Zimmer and Republican Senate candidate Bob Franks.

"McCain is a true American hero, and in the presidential primaries he energized a part of the electorate to get out and vote," Holub said. "Zimmer and McCain worked on several of the same issues — campaign finance reform — and I'm sure it was a tremendous boost for our campaign."

Holt campaign manager Mark Matzen said yesterday he believes recent newspaper endorsements from The New York Times, The Princeton Packet and The New Jersey Star-Ledger will prove highly beneficial. In addition, he said Holt's basic messages appeal to voters.

"It has been a campaign on the issues, about Social Security, education and health care — issues where Holt is stronger than Mr. Zimmer," Matzen said. "It bodes well for the Holt campaign."

This has been one of the most expensive congressional races in the country, with each campaign raising approximately $2 million.

With the race so close, the outcome will likely come down to whose supporters make it to the polls. As a result, both candidates are sponsoring extensive efforts to reach out to residents today and encourage them to vote. "We are having a very aggressive get-out-the-vote campaign with 1,600 people working," Matzen said yesterday. "People will be going door-to-door to make sure voters come out tomorrow, in addition to the phone bank people."

The Zimmer campaign is using a similar strategy, employing people to call and encourage voters to go to the booths.

The similarity between the candidates essentially ends with Election Day strategies, as their views differ on most campaign issues.

Get the best of ‘the Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Both candidates echo party lines on most issues. Holt hopes to secure more money to build new schools and recruit teachers, for example, while Zimmer — a moderate Republican — favors making schools more accountable through testing.

Zimmer would work toward a conservative tax cut to return part of the budget surplus to constituents. Holt hopes to use the surplus to preserve Social Security and Medicare and to pay down the national debt.

The candidates both have extensive records on preserving the environment through legislation that allows the state to purchase land and maintain open space.

The battle for the House has thrust New Jersey's 12th District race into the national spotlight. Traditionally the district — with 700,000 residents in five primarily suburban counties — votes Republican, but Democrats viewed Holt's upset victory in 1998 as a glimpse of hope. Republicans hope it was just a fluke.

"The district is fiscally conservative and socially moderate and that is why Zimmer is a perfect fit," Holub said yesterday.

Holt, who is a freshman representative and former assistant director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, defeated Rep. Mike Pappas by a slim one-point margin in an election immediately following President Clinton's impeachment.

Zimmer, who also worked at the University as a lecturer in the Wilson School for three years, held the seat for six years before an unsuccessful bid in the 1996 Senate race against Democrat Robert Toricelli.