Chris Myers (New Jersey politician)

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Chris Myers
File:Myers Headshot Smaller.JPG
Candidate for New Jersey's 3rd congressional district
Personal details
Political partyRepublican
Chris Myers
Mayor of Medford, New Jersey
Personal details
Political partyRepublican
SpouseTiffany Myers
ChildrenTwo (Son and daughter)
ResidenceMedford, New Jersey
Alma materUniversity of Colorado [disambiguation needed] (Bachelor's Degree); Cornell University (Master's Degree)
ProfessionU.S. Navy/Vice President of Lockheed Martin
Websitehttp://www.chrismyersforcongress.com

Chris Myers (c. 1966), was born and raised in New Jersey's 3rd congressional district. He served in the United States Navy during the Gulf War, served as the Vice President, Business Development of Lockheed Martin, and was elected to the Medford, New Jersey Township Council in 2003 and 2007, serving as Mayor in 2004 and 2008.

Personal Biography

Raised in the Pinelands in Medford Township, he attended public schools, graduating from Shawnee High School. He later graduated from the University of Colorado [disambiguation needed] with a degree in political science, and holds a master’s degree in public administration from Cornell University. [1]

He currently resides in Medford with his wife of 15 years, Tiffany, and his two young children.

Military Experience

Myers, a decorated combat veteran of the Persian Gulf War, served as the communications officer, anti-air warfare officer, and operations officer on the Navy’s first forward deployed Aegis-equipped cruiser, USS Bunker Hill. In this position, Chris directed the actions of four aircraft carriers and hundreds of land and sea-based aircraft, as well as missile ships from U.S. and allied nations. After leaving USS Bunker Hill, he served as the joint air defense officer for the combined U.S. and NATO Staff of Commander, Second Fleet and Commander Striking Fleet Atlantic aboard the flagship USS Mount Whitney. In this capacity, Myers designed and coordinated Air Defense and Tomahawk plans for exercise and real world operations. His military decorations include a Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Navy Commendation Medal (with Combat V), several Navy Achievement Medals, Combat Action Ribbon and Liberation of Kuwait Medal. [1]

Business Experience

Upon leaving the Navy, Chris joined Lockheed Martin and became a program manager in the Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program Office at NE&SS-Surface Systems. In that position, he led the High Range Resolution Program that consisted of a series of radar enhancements and at-sea tests to support Navy BMD efforts. He was promoted to director, Missile Defense and Radar Programs, charged with overseeing Lockheed Martin’s radar business and role in BMD domestically and internationally.

He was promoted to Vice President, Business Development where he was responsible for new business acquisition, technology research and development for Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors’ (MS2). In this capacity, he is responsible for new business acquisition, technology research and development for MS2.

During his tenure, more than a thousand jobs have been added to the workforce.

Chris was also vice president, Advanced Programs, where he was responsible for leading the MS2’s efforts in developing advanced sensors and weapons systems for surface combatant ships. Before that role, he was vice president, Sea-based Missile Defense, which included Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense and integrating all missile defense activity across MS2.

In the past two years, he initiated and continues to lead Lockheed Martin’s efforts to produce solar powered projects in alternative energy. [1]

Political Experience

Myers was elected to the Medford, New Jersey Township Council in 2003 and 2007, serving as Mayor in 2004 and is serving as mayor again in 2008.

2008 Congressional campaign

Myers announced his bid for Congress in January 2008, receiving the endorsement and support of the retiring incumbent Jim Saxton. [2]

Primary

Other candidates for the Republican nomination included Ocean County Freeholder John P. Kelly and former Tabernacle Township Committeeman Justin Murphy. The campaign in the Republican primary included disputes over taxes. Myers criticized Kelly for having voted to raise Ocean County's spending and taxes. Kelly responded that Myers's attack was hypocritical in light of the 50% increase in Medford's spending during Myers's term on the township's committee.[3] Kelly also charged that Myers's lobbying for the defense industry created a conflict of interest. [4] Myers won the primary with 49% of the vote to Kelly’s 26% and Murphy’s 25%.[5]

Kelly has since pushed his supporters to help Myers win, offering his "full support" and any help he can give.[6]

General election

Myers is facing State Senator John Adler, who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. The only independent candidate in this race is Edward Forchion, who will be running under the "Legalize Marijuana (G.R.I.P.)" Party.[7]

On July 2, Myers announced he would be taking a leave of absence from his job as a Vice President at Lockheed Martin through the remainder of the campaign. In doing so, Myers announced he would be a full-time candidate between then and Election Day. [8]

On September 22, Myers held a fundraiser with President George W. Bush in Colts Neck, New Jersey.[9] It has been suggested that Bush's unpopularity could hurt Myers' chances with independent voters.

According to The Press of Atlantic City, a fundraiser for Myers was also held by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Charlie Black, senior adviser to Bush's 2000 and 2004 campaigns and a former lobbyist for Freddie Mac, a company at the heart of the recent financial crises and which is under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office.[10][11]

On October 14, Myers will be holding a fundraiser with former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney [12].

Myers looks to keep the third Congressional District for his party, in a district that has been represented by a Republican since it was created in 1882. Myers faces a 10-1 funding gap, with Adler having $1.4 million in cash on hand, compared to Myers' war chest of $155,000. After a bitter primary battle with Republican Freeholder Jack Kelly, Myers has received only one contribution from Kelly's home turf in Ocean County.[13] However, many of the mental scars of the primary seem to have healed; Kelly has since endorsed Myers, and the Ocean County GOP has begun to rally support for the GOP candidate going into November.[6]

General election endorsements

Upon his announcement into the Republican primary on January 10, Myers was endorsed by incumbent Congressman Jim Saxton to be the Republican nominee. "When I arrived on scene in Medford, there was one man in charge. It was Chris Myers.... That day and in the months that followed, Chris made order out of disorder," said Saxton. "It was that experience that showed me what propels Chris Myers. It's his very nature." [14].

On September 15, Myers was endorsed by Vets for Freedom, the nation's largest Iraq-Afghanistan veterans organization. This group has more than 30,000 members across the country. [15].

Myers has also been endorsed by Veterans for Victory, a nonpartisan group of veterans that support strong military policies and the election of veterans to public office. [16].

On September 25, Myers received the endorsement of the National Federation of Independent Businesses nonprofit organization that represents small and independent businesses. [17].

On October 4, Myers was endorsed by the National Rifle Association, receiving a grade of A- from their organization [18].

Myers has been endorsed by Wake Up America (W.A.M.), a bipartisan group that seeks to elect reform-minded lawmakers to Congress. They are a branch organization of People United Means Action (P.U.M.A.), and feel that John Adler "sold" his vote to Barack Obama in the Democratic primary. In their endorsement, the group cited their endorsement on Myers' support of "renewable energy and the Main Street Partnership for bipartisan solutions to issues facing the nation." [19].

Positions on issues

Myers calls himself a "Jim Saxton Republican", "a conservative on taxes and spending, a supporter of the environment and a friend of working men and women." [20]

In June, Myers criticized his opponent for supporting the New Jersey Legislature's proposed Democratic budget, which would divert money away from state beaches to state parks.[21] Myers also opposed Adler's vote to pass the budget without allowing voters to decide in November whether or not they supported borrowing an additional $3.9 billion for a school construction program a program that "was rife with "mismanagement, fiscal malfeasance, conflicts of interest and waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars" according to an April 2005 report by NJ Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper."[22]

On July 14, 2008, Myers broke with the national Republican Party leadership and announced his public opposition to offshore drilling along the New Jersey coast.[23]

Myers has made the Affordable Housing Mandate bill, a bill supported by his opponent and by Governor Jon Corzine, a central point in his summer campaign. Myers opposes the bill as a result of its inclusion of a section that creates government imposition of fees on non-residential development in order to build an affordable housing fund. He argues that this concept will be bad for taxpayers and will also destroy the preservation of environmental open space [24]

Myers is strongly ProLife. At a debate on September 21 in Cherry Hill, Myers drew criticism by his opponents after he did not provide an answer to whether he would support overturning Roe v. Wade. Instead, Myers merely stood up and reiterated that he is pro-life. [25]

At one of his first press conferences, Myers refused to answer how he’d vote on SCHIP funding for health insurance expansion for children. At the same conference, according to reports, when pressed by reporters, Myers refused to say how he would have voted on the original Iraq War resolution in 2003.[26] Since then, however, expanding child health coverage through SCHIP has become a part of Myers health care platform and he has been outspoken in criticizing Bush's veto of the expansion of SCHIP. [27].

Myers has attacked his opponent for not addressing whether or not he has accepted money from an alleged "slush fund" linked to indicted state senator Wayne Bryant. [28]. The fund, called the Property Tax Assistance and Community Development grant program, reemerged as a controversial issue last week, after Senate budget aide George LeBlanc testified at former State Sen. Wayne Bryant’s corruption trial that Bryant got $4 million from the $40 million fund to give to projects of his choice. [29].

Polling

Non-partisan political analyst Stuart Rothenberg rates the Adler-Myers race as a toss-up that tilts slightly Democratic [30], stating that the district, which is trending Democratic, represents one of the “toughest holds” in the country for Republicans. [31] Other political analysts, such as Charlie Cook and Larry Sabato, have ranked the race as "Toss-Up" or "No Clear Favorite" - lining up with recent poll data. [32] [33].The Pindell Report, from politickernj.com, lists Adler as favored over Myers in this race with the rating “Leans Dem.” [34] Meanwhile, non-partisan political analyst Reid Wilson writes that Adler’s “financial advantage over Republican Chris Myers is probably big enough to capture the seat.” [35] Non-partisan race analysis from Election Advantage lists the race as "Slight Advantage for Myers," after listing it for quite some time as "Slight Adler"; this change came as a result of recent polling [36].

A mid-September internal poll by McLaughlin & Associates show Myers defeating Adler by a margin of 33% to 29%, with a plurality of voters - 37% - undecided. [37]. The poll attributes Myers’ lead to a general dissatisfaction among voters towards Adler’s negative ads and negative mailers from various political committees supporting the Democrat. It also indicates that Adler’s low approval ratings are partially due to the perception that he is a “career politician” and the fact that he is an Ivy League-educated lawyer. Adler’s association with unpopular Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine also hurts him, while Myers is helped from his endorsement by incumbent Rep. Jim Saxton, who has a 53 percent favorable rating. [38].

A separate internal poll by Democratic pollsters Anzalone-Liszt shows the same percentage difference between the two candidates, with Myers defeating Adler by 4 percentage points. [39].

The first public poll in the race, commissioned by The Press of Atlantic City and The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, shows Myers with 38.5% to Adler's 37.1%, with 22% of voters undecided. [40].

A second public poll conducted by Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey found Myers with 44% to Adler's 41%. Voters feel Myers would do a better job than Adler handling issues regarding the economy, 30% to 26%; national security, 31% to 24%; veterans' affairs, 31% to 23%; the war in Iraq, 28% to 23%; energy, 27% to 25%; and keeping taxes and spending under control, 30% to 23%. Adler was favored over Myers on health care, 28% to 25%; the environment, 27% to 25%; and who would be best able to help New Jersey families make ends meet, 32% to 30%. On the issue of Social Security, the candidates tied at 26% each. [41].

In light of the recent polling, the Daily Kos, a liberal blog, stated that in spite of an early feeling Adler could win, polls show Myers has a great chance of "keeping this open seat in Republican hands" [42].

According to campaign manager Chris Russell, the NRCC has committed $84,200 in coordinated ad buys with the Myers campaign - the maximum allowed by law. This comes on top of help the NRCC gave in financing an internal poll in September with the Myers campaign. [43].State Republican Chair Tom Wilson said about Myers not receiving funds for his race: "I’ll be more than disappointed. I’ll be sickened."[44]

Controversies

  • In March 2008, a Mt. Laurel political activist filed a complaint to the House Ethics Committee concerning one of Chris Myers’ aides, Jeff Sagnip. Sagnip, an employee of Rep. Jim Saxton, was questioned for his role in working for Myers while being paid by taxpayers for his work with Saxton, an ethics committee violation. [45]
  • According to the Asbury Park Press, Myers commented on Iraq War that the U.S. needs to make it “look like we’ve won,” a comment which has drawn criticism from his opponents.[46]
  • Glenn Paulsen, former Chairman of the Republican Party in Burlington County, has given thousands to the Myers campaign. [47] When asked about the donations from Paulsen, Myers didn’t address the question and instead said "You have to talk to Glenn about that.” "I don't know any issues about that so you'll have to talk to them about it."[48]
  • In an April 2008 radio interview, Myers claimed that the economy is "basically strong," for which he has received criticism. [49] The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has since run ads on Myers that spotlight his stance on the economy’s strength even while financial institutions continue to fall.

References

  1. ^ a b c Home page, Chris Myers for Congress. Accessed August 14, 2008.
  2. ^ Levinsky, David. "Saxton backs mayor of Medford as successor", Burlington County Times, January 11, 2008. Accessed August 14, 2008.
  3. ^ Friedman, Matt (March 21, 2008). "Myers and Kelly fight over taxes". PolitickerNJ.com. Retrieved 2008-08-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Kapochunas, Rachel (August 11, 2008). "Primary Fallout Shifts NJ Race Into Tossup Territory". Congressional Quarterly. Retrieved 2008-08-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Kapochunas, Rachel. "Primary Fallout Shifts NJ Race Into Tossup Territory", Congressional Quarterly, August 11, 2008. Accessed August 14, 2008. "Myers won the primary with 49 percent and Kelly and Murphy each received 25 percent."
  6. ^ a b Spahr, Rob. "Ocean County Republicans welcome Myers", Press of Atlantic City, August 4, 2008. Accessed August 11, 2008.
  7. ^ U.S. Congress Candidates for New Jersey, Project Vote Smart. Accessed August 14, 2008.
  8. ^ Myers to Campaign for Congress Full-Time | Politicker NJ
  9. ^ Spahr, Rob. "Myers looks to George Bush for fundraising boost", Press of Atlantic City, Sept 17, 2008 Accessed September 24, 2008.
  10. ^ [1]
  11. ^ [2]
  12. ^ [3]
  13. ^ Burton, Cynthia. "Campaign funds are key in S. Jersey congressional race", The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 22, 2008. Accessed July 30, 2008.
  14. ^ [4]
  15. ^ [5]
  16. ^ [6]
  17. ^ [7]
  18. ^ [8]
  19. ^ [9]
  20. ^ “Myers Enters Race for Congress”, “PolitickerNJ” January 10, 2008. Accessed Oct 6, 2008.
  21. ^ Weaver, Donna. "Myers, mayors object to using beach funds to keep parks open", Press of Atlantic City, June 21, 2008. Accessed August 14, 2008.
  22. ^ Myers Blasts Adler for Not Allowing Voters to Decide on $3.9 Billion School Construction Debt | Politicker NJ
  23. ^ Pizarro, Max. "Myers opposes while Adler bludgeons Bush drilling plan", PolitickerNJ.com, July 14, 2008. Accessed August 11, 2008.
  24. ^ Myers savages Adler-backed affordable housing plan | Politicker
  25. ^ "Economy Sets Sparks Flying at Debate" The Jewish Exponent]], Sept 25, 2008.Accessed October 3, 2008.
  26. ^ “Myers Enters Race for Congress”, “PolitickerNJ” January 10, 2008. Accessed Oct 6, 2008
  27. ^ [10]
  28. ^ [11]
  29. ^ [12]
  30. ^ [13]
  31. ^ “Rothenberg Political Report” “Rothenberg Report”. Sept 17. 2008. Accessed October 7, 2008
  32. ^ [14]
  33. ^ [15]
  34. ^ http://www.politicker.com/pindell-report/house “Pindell Report-House Races”], “PindellReport” October 7, 2008. Accessed Oct 9, 2008.
  35. ^ “Dem Chances Soar on Economic Woes”, “RealClearPolitics” October 9, 2008. Accessed October 9, 2008.
  36. ^ [16]
  37. ^ [17]
  38. ^ [18]
  39. ^ [19]
  40. ^ [20]
  41. ^ [21]
  42. ^ [22]
  43. ^ [23]
  44. ^ [24]
  45. ^ “Leonard Letter”, “Flicker” March 3, 2008. Accessed Oct 6, 2008.
  46. ^ [25]
  47. ^ [ http://fundrace-origin.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=name&lname=Paulsen&fname=glenn&search=Search “Huffington Post Search”], “Huffington Post” Accessed Oct. 6, 2008
  48. ^ “Myers Allies Propose Bill Limit”, “PolitickerNJ.com” May 7, 2008. Accessed Oct 6, 2008
  49. ^ "Chris Myers Way out of Touch with New Jersey" You Tube, Accessed September 28, 2008.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chris_Myers_(New_Jersey_politician)&oldid=244432434"