Scott Garrett
| Scott Garrett | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 7, 2003 |
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| Preceded by | Marge Roukema |
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| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
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| Born | July 09 1959 Englewood, New Jersey |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Mary Ellen Garrett |
| Religion | Non-denominational |
E. Scott Garrett (born July 9, 1959 in Englewood, New Jersey) is a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a Republican and has represented New Jersey's Fifth Congressional District seat since January 2003 (map). Garrett serves as a member of both the House Budget Committee and the House Financial Services Committee.
Political career and background
Prior to being elected to the House, Garrett served in the New Jersey General Assembly (the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature) from 1990 to 2002 representing the 24th legislative district, which covers all of Sussex County and several municipalities in Morris and Hunterdon counties.
Garrett earned a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from
Garrett unsuccessfully ran for Congress against incumbent Congresswoman Marge Roukema in the 1998 and 2000 Republican primaries, falling short both times with 48% of the vote.[1] He received support from several groups who had long felt chagrin at Roukema's moderate voting record; Garrett had by this time established himself as one of the most conservative members of the General Assembly.
In 2002, Roukema did not seek reelection and Garrett won a contested five-way primary with 45% of the vote over State Assemblyman David C. Russo (26%) and State Senator Gerald Cardinale (25%), who had received Roukema's endorsement.[2]
In the 2002 general election, Garrett faced Democrat Anne Sumers, a former Republican, in the general election. Roukema didn't endorse Garrett in the general election. This was very unusual for an incumbent of the same party, even though Garrett and Roukema had faced each other in bruising primaries in past years. However, she didn't endorse Sumers either, even though part of Sumers' strategy was to portray herself as a "Roukema Republican" and win support in Roukema's old Bergen County base (Bergen County is the biggest county in the 5th district). Sumers' chances decreased significantly after she made several ill-advised comments about the U.S.-Taliban conflict on an Internet message board.[3] The race essentially ended at that point, and Garrett won in a rout, 60% to 38%--even winning Roukema's former base in Bergen County.[4])
Garrett was reelected in 2004 with 58% of the vote. He declined to debate his opponent Anne Wolfe, several times, claiming to have conflicts with his schedule in Washington D.C. Eventually he debated her twice. In 2006, Garrett defeated his Republican primary rival, Michael J. Cino of Bergen County. In the November, 2006 election, Garrett defeated Paul Aronsohn (a former employee of the U.S. State Department during the Clinton Administration) and Independent R. Matthew Fretz to win a third term. However, in this election, he only won 55% of the vote--the lowest percentage for a Republican in the district since it assumed its current configuration in 1983.
Political positions and statements
Garrett has a very conservative voting record, which is unusual for Republicans from New Jersey, a longstanding bastion of moderate Republicanism. He has received perfect 100 ratings from the American Conservative Union throughout his career. In 2005, only 38 members of Congress nationwide and only two other members from Northeastern states — Bill Shuster and Joe Pitts, both from Pennsylvania — scored perfect 100s.[5] New Jersey's five other Republican Congressmen have ACU rankings ranging from 60 to 76.[6]
In July of 2007, Congressman Garrett proposed an amendment to strike money in a spending bill for native Alaskan and Hawaiian educational programs.[7] Congressman Don Young of Alaska defended the funds on the floor of the House, saying, "You want my money, my money."[7] Young went on to suggest that conservative Republicans such as Garrett lost the Republicans their majority in the 2006 election by challenging spending earmarks, and made several critical remarks about the state of New Jersey.[7] While Garrett did not ask for an official reprimand, other conservative Republicans took exception to Young's remarks that the funds in question represented his money. Members of the Republican Study Committee gave Garrett a standing ovation later in the day during the group's weekly meeting.[7]
Garrett led a drive to demand the immediate resignation of Governor Jim McGreevey after he admitted to an extramarital affair with a male state employee. McGreevey announced that he would stay in office until November 15, 2004. Had McGreevey resigned before September 8, 2004, there would have been a special election at the same time as that year's presidential election. Garrett started a petition on his campaign web site demanding a special election. According to his campaign manager, it received 10,000 responses, but it is unknown how many signatures were actually from New Jersey.[citation needed]
Although Garrett promotes himself as a "mainstream tax-cutter that President Bush needs in Congress,"[8] he has broken with the Bush Administration several times. For example, he was one of several House conservatives who joined Democrats in opposing the Medicare Modernization Act in 2003. Garrett was the only congressman from New Jersey to vote against the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act for purposes of states' rights.[9]
He also serves on the Liberty Caucus (sometimes called the Liberty Committee), a group of libertarian-minded congressmen.[10] Other members include Jimmy Duncan of Tennessee, Virgil Goode of Virginia, Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland, Walter B. Jones of North Carolina, Zach Wamp of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona.[11]
He was the only member of the New Jersey delegation to vote for oil and gas drilling off the shore of New Jersey.[12] Garrett often votes against the use of federal funding and federal interventions in the free market-- was also the only member to vote against restrictions on "price gouging" by oil companies,[13] to vote against mandatory child safety locks on handguns, and to vote against an additional appropriation for Hurricane Katrina victims.[14] He was the only New Jersey member to vote against federal aid for household pets in case of a disaster.[15] He was one of only four members of the House of Representatives to vote against an extension of unemployment benefits.[16]
Garrett also wants public schools to teach intelligent design as an alternative to evolution.[17]
Political Challengers
Dennis Shulman (D), a blind, internationally-recognized clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, author and ordained rabbi, has announced the formation of a congressional exploratory campaign in New Jersey’s 5th district to challenge Garrett in 2008.
According to the non-partisan vote-tracking website Issues 2000:[18]
- Rated 100% by National Right to Life Committee
- Rated 0% by NARAL Pro-Choice America
- Rated 17% by the National Education Association (NEA)
- Rated 10% by League of Conservation Voters
- Rated 22% by APHA
- Rated 13% by AFL-CIO
- Rated 20% by the ARA
- Rated 87% by Club for Growth
- Rated 100% by the American Conservative Union
- Rated 88% by Americans for Tax Reform
Garrett is endorsed by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Roukema retires, County News Online, November 26, 2001
- ^ Barnes Pleads Guilty, Primaries, & Georgia Scott; 38th Column dated July 5, 2002
- ^ http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0705/p02s01-uspo.html
- ^ In Jersey, Conservative and Moderate Republicans Vie for Control of Party, accessed July 31, 2006
- ^ U.S. House of Representatives Standouts: 2005 — Best and Brightest, accessed July 9, 2006
- ^ ACU Rankings by State Delegation, accessed July 9, 2006
- ^ a b c d North to Alaska, The Politico dated July 17, 2007.
- ^ Archive of Garrett's campaign site at http://web.archive.org/web/20030425222436/http://garrettforcongress.com
- ^ The unending struggle for voting rights, The Record (Bergen County), July 18, 2006
- ^ The Liberty Committee. Retrieved on 2007-06-24.
- ^ Caldwell, Christopher. "The Antiwar, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Drug-Enforcement-Administration, Anti-Medicare Candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul", 'The New York Times Magazine', 2007-07-22. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ House votes to lift drilling ban for offshore natural gas and oil, Star-Ledger, June 30, 2006
- ^ Garrett hit for vote against gas price-gouging ban, The Record (Bergen County), May 6, 2006
- ^ Roll Call: Further Emergency Supplemental Appropriations, Hurricane Katrina, 2005, September 8, 2005
- ^ Roll Call: Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act, May 22, 2006
- ^ Bush Signs Extension of Federal Unemployment Benefits, KOMO-TV, January 8, 2003
- ^ Garrett backs lessons on intelligent design, The Record (Bergen County), September 30, 2005
- ^ On the Issues: Scott Garrett, accessed July 20, 2006
External links
- U.S. Congressman Scott Garrett official House site
- Scott Garrett at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Federal Election Commission — Scott Garrett campaign finance reports and data
- On the Issues — Scott Garrett issue positions and quotes
- OpenSecrets.org — Scott Garrett campaign contributions
- Project Vote Smart — Representative E. Scott Garrett (NJ) profile
- SourceWatch Congresspedia — Scott Garrett profile
- Scott Garrett for U.S. Congress official campaign site
- Dump Garrett anti site
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Marge Roukema |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 5th congressional district 2003–Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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