Though incumbent Democratic Congressman Rush Holt appears to be the winner in Tuesday's election for New Jersey's 12th District seat, he has not accepted the victory, nor has challenger Dick Zimmer conceded defeat.
"One of us conceding or declaring victory doesn't change the numbers. We want to work on the basis of evidence," Holt said yesterday.
The Associated Press, CNN and The New York Times called Dick Zimmer the winner early yesterday morning by a slim 731-vote margin out of approximately 280,000 ballots cast in the dead-heat race. As the final few ballots trickled in, however, the contest narrowed to fewer than 100 votes.
With all 539 precincts reporting, the Republican Zimmer's lead was erased and the Democratic incumbent emerged as the apparent victor by one of the narrowest margins of victory in the 12th Congressional district's election history.
By mid-morning yesterday, Holt appeared to hold a razor-thin 56-vote lead, which would allow the Democratic Party to hang on to one of the most hotly contested Congressional seats in the country.
The final batch of votes — ballots from Middlesex county — apparently tipped the contest in Holt's favor. Holt carried the county by a 57 to 42 percent margin.
Zimmer's camp, however, was not ready to accept defeat by mere dozens of votes. Zimmer campaign manager John Holub said yesterday afternoon that he still believed his candidate to be the victor.
The N.J. Division of Elections and county clerks worked through the day to review the election results in all five counties. All ballots, including absentee and provisional votes, must be checked before a winner is declared.
Both campaigns tried to conduct their own checks of the voting results district-wide, though no formal recount was conducted.
The candidates would have to petition one of the five Superior Court assignment judges in the district for them to consider a recount.
Throughout the election, the 12th Congressional District has drawn the attention of national media as political pundits and pollsters anticipated an especially close race.
The district was thrust into the national spotlight as both Democrat and Republican parties scrambled to shore up seats in the House. With all 435 seats up for election, the Democrats hoped to retake the House. The Republicans hoped to maintain at least the 218 seats required for a majority.
Because New Jersey's 12th district traditionally votes Republican — and because Holt was elected by an extremely slim margin in 1998 — Republican party leaders targeted freshman representative Holt's seat as one they could potentially retake.
Zimmer had held the position from 1991-1997, before he made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1996 against Democrat Robert Torricelli.
Conservative Republican Mike Pappas held the seat between 1996 and 1998, but his anti-abortion and anti-gun control positions proved too far to the right to secure crucial moderate votes needed to hold the seat.
Holt defeated Pappas in an upset victory in 1998, in a campaign marked by inflammatory television ads showing Pappas celebrating President Clinton's impeachment and praising Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr.
This year, both parties sent high profile party members like former Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ) and Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) to stump for these candidates.
Zimmer, a moderate Republican and former lecturer at the Wilson School, voiced views similar to those of Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. George W. Bush on topics such as tax cuts, Medicare and education. Zimmer also focused on campaign finance reform and special-interest spending, an issue he had worked on with McCain as a House member.
Holt also echoed his party's presidential candidate on many key issues, agreeing with Vice President Al Gore on Social Security policy and on increasing spending on public education. He also emphasized his strong record on the environment and on preserving open space.
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