In New Jersey's 2d District, LoBiondo foe tries a new tack

Gary Stein keeps coming at U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo from new directions.

In 2008, the resident of Mullica Township, Atlantic County, ran as an independent hoping to unseat the Republican powerhouse then seeking his eighth term in New Jersey's Second Congressional District.

This time, Stein - who previously was a Republican himself - is opposing LoBiondo as a Democrat, but without the party's financial backing. He sold his favorite car to help pay campaign expenses, he said.

"I'm the little guy up against a lumbering giant, but this is the only avenue open to me to try and make a change," said Stein, 54, who operates an office-cleaning business and has relied mostly on the Internet and talk radio to discuss his views.

"My fundamental gripe is that LoBiondo votes one way and tells his constituency something else. They don't know his true position on a lot of key issues," Stein said.

He claims that the congressman's votes have contradicted his public stands in favor of term limits and against offshore oil exploration, a contention LoBiondo denies.

The incumbent has kept a relatively low profile in the David-and-Goliath race. The last time they faced off, LoBiondo pulled down 167,701 votes compared with Stein's 1,312. The Republican has received about 60 percent of the popular vote in each of his elections since 1994.

LoBiondo, 64, who lives in Ventnor, has spent little on advertising. Nor has he accepted invitations to debate his challengers, who also include the Constitution Party's Peter F. Boyle, of Millville; Vitov Valdes-Munoz, an American Labor Party representative from Vineland; and independent Mark Lovett, of Ventnor.

Despite amassing a $1.1 million war chest, his campaign reported last month that it had spent only about $100,000. (Stein said his campaign has received no donations.) LoBiondo has mostly attended Republican rallies to support other candidates inside and outside of the district.

Without events where he can confront LoBiondo face-to-face - and with no neutral political organizations willing to commit to "empty chair" forums where Stein could proffer his views on LoBiondo without the incumbent in attendance - Stein has had little opportunity to publicize his platform.

LoBiondo's voting record and an ambitious public schedule that has him attending up to a half-dozen events a day in the district have made his stands well-known. On a given Saturday, even in noncampaign years, he may attend everything from the ribbon-cutting for a motorsports park to a pancake breakfast or chicken dinner.

"From the time I was first elected to the county freeholder board and then the state Assembly, I've always thought that it's important to let the residents of my district know that I am available, accessible, and approachable," said LoBiondo, who has garnered endorsements from groups such as the Sierra Club and the New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police.

The Republican grew up in Deerfield Township, Cumberland County, working in his family's truck farming business. He served as a Cumberland County Freeholder for two years before being elected to the New Jersey Assembly in 1988.

The Second District - geographically, the largest in the state - includes all of Atlantic, Cape May, and Cumberland Counties, and portions of Burlington, Camden and Gloucester Counties.

Democrats outnumber Republicans by only about 6,600 voters in Atlantic, Cape May, and Cumberland Counties combined, but by a 2-1 ratio in the other areas. The majority of voters, however, are nonaffiliated.

LoBiondo first ran for Congress in 1992 against William J. Hughes, and was defeated by the venerable Democrat. When Hughes retired from elected politics in 1994, LoBiondo got a second chance. He now serves as a member of the House Armed Forces Committee and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He also belongs to the relatively moderate Republican Main Street Partnership.

He did not support President George W. Bush's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), signed into law in 2008 to address the subprime-mortgage crisis, and he was against President Obama's auto-industry bailout. LoBiondo also opposed the Obama stimulus package and health-care bill.

Unemployment rates are higher than the national average in the heart of the Second District, in Cape May and Cumberland Counties, and jobless numbers have increased in Atlantic County as the casino industry continues to falter.

Voters' concerns are "jobs, jobs, jobs, the economy and spending, and jobs, jobs, jobs," LoBiondo said.

He called it "egregious" that businesses do not know precisely what the federal tax structure will be next year. That uncertainty has caused reluctance among large and small employers to hire and expand operations.

He favors retaining the Bush administration's cuts to income tax and capital gains tax for those in all income brackets.

Stein, who was the only registered Democrat willing to run against LoBiondo, says he would eliminate the country's "underground economy" by phasing out currency and having people use government-issued debit cards instead. This would "open up a discussion" about taxes and how government spends money, he said.

He also would eliminate income tax for all but "the very rich," and he would replace state sales taxes with a national sales tax of 10 percent or 11 percent.

Stein said he supported Bush's rescue of the banking system, and he also was in favor of TARP assistance to the auto industry.

"I'm against Obama's spending sprees, but have been and always will be in favor of his rescue of GM and Chrysler," Stein said.