Marine veteran Nick De Gregorio launched a political bid Wednesday to challenge Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., a moderate lawmaker labeled by the National Republican Congressional Committee as vulnerable in next year’s midterms.
De Gregorio said in a campaign announcement video that he’s running because "our country is dangerously off course."
"Washington is leaderless. It's run by career politicians, radicals, socialists, who care more about their own political agenda than they do about the people that they've sworn an oath to serve," De Gregorio said in the video that flashed photos of President Joe Biden, Gottheimer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
"I swore an oath too, and this is not what I fought for," he added. "History will define us by what we do right here and now for the next generation of Americans. The fight for our future is not in some distant land anymore. It's right here at home. Now is the time to beat back socialism. Now is the time to safeguard our God given rights and liberties."
Frank Pallotta, the district’s 2020 GOP nominee, and Nicholas D’Agostino, a Sussex County, N.J., school board member, have also announced that they will challenge Gottheimer for his House seat, The Hill reported.
Gottheimer, who is co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, made headlines in recent weeks as a leading figure in the negotiations over the bipartisan infrastructure bill and social spending package, The Hill noted.
In a statement on his campaign website, De Gregorio pointed to increasing taxes, business and jobs fleeing and classrooms becoming testing grounds for radical political ideology,” which he said are all being driven by “the career politicians and insiders, who are too busy serving themselves in Washington to care about the mess they have created for the rest of us here at home."
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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