Holt vies for seat held by Corzine

Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), who represents Princeton's district in Congress, has added his name to a long list of candidates lobbying New Jersey governor-elect Jon Corzine for an appointment to Corzine's now-vacant seat in the U.S. Senate. Corzine is expected to make his decision next week.

"I have told him that I could make a good senator for New Jersey, and I am ready to do just that," Holt said.

The appointment will be highly competitive. Six of New Jersey's seven Democratic congressmen, including Holt, have expressed interest in the position.

There has been a lot of speculation about minority candidates, such as state senator Nia Gill, an African-American, or Rep. Robert Menendez, who has received the endorsement of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

A minority candidate has not previously represented New Jersey in the Senate.

Holt said he is interested in the job but will not pursue it as aggressively as some other contenders.

"If I get this, it will be because of who I am as a person and as a representative," he said. "I already have a job representing 650,000 New Jersey residents, and that keeps me busy enough without thinking too much about what's around the corner."

If selected, Holt said his hopes for New Jersey would remain the same as they have been since he began his term in 1998.

He said he believes in building opportunities by investing in the future, ensuring fair treatment for New Jersey residents and building a sense of community on a local and national scale.

In his seven years as a representative, Holt has worked to make college more affordable through student aid and tax benefits and helped secure more than $700 million in federal funding for scientific research. He also helped fund the Princeton Public Library and the National Science Foundation.

"With regard to student aids and loans, much of my work has been a losing battle," he said.

"But I intend to continue fighting for more funding of higher education and scientific research."

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Holt sees stem cell research as one of New Jersey's top priorities.

"We're living off the fruits of research made in the 1960s and '70s," he said. "Stem cell research holds so much promise for improving and saving people's lives that it's inhumane to not pursue it."

Holt's science background dates back to 1970, when he graduated from Carleton College in Minnesota with a bachelor's degree in Physics. Ten years later, he received his Master's and Ph.D. from NYU. He taught at Swarthmore and NYU and worked as an arms control expert at the U.S. State Department, monitoring the nuclear programs of Iraq, Iran, North Korea and the former Soviet Union.

From 1989 to 1998, when he launched his congressional campaign, Holt served as assistant director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, the University's largest research facility and New Jersey's largest center for research in alternative energy.

He has conducted extensive research on alternative energy and has patented his own solar energy device.Holt has also won the game show "Jeopardy" five times.