Race to watch: What voters need to know about N.J.’s 3rd Congressional District candidates

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New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District includes most of Burlington County and parts of Mercer and Monmouth counties.

The Garden State has 12 Congressional Districts. According to state election records, there are more unaffiliated voters in this district than Democrats and Republicans. But after a bi-partisan state commission redrew the congressional maps in 2021, the 3rd District now has nearly as many Democratic voters as unaffiliated ones.

The district was a Republican stronghold until 2018 when now-Congressman Andy Kim defeated Tom MacArthur.

With Kim running for the U.S. Senate seat formerly occupied by Bob Menendez, the 3rd Congressional District is an open contest between Dr. Herb Conaway, Dr. Rejesh Mohan, Steven Welzer and Chris Russomanno.

Dr. Herb Conaway, Democrat

Conaway has been a member of the New Jersey Assembly since 1998. He currently represents the 7th Legislative District in Burlington County. An Air Force veteran, Conaway holds a medical degree from Jefferson Medical College and a law degree from Rutgers University. He has been Burlington County’s public health director since 2019.

When the next Congress convenes, Conaway hopes that border security will be taken up “in short order.” He said he supported elements of a bi-partisan compromise brokered in the Senate. That proposal would have increased border agents and other security measures, in addition to empowering President Joe Biden to “shut down” the border and end the practice of “catch and release.”

“It will improve the situation for border states,” he said. “It will deal with the many asylum seekers that wish to come to their country, facing hardship and other rather serious problems in their home countries.”

Conaway said he is in favor of increasing the number of judges at the border to handle the asylum cases. Mimi Tsankov, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, told PBS News Hour in January that the average caseload is 5,000 per judge. She estimated that doubling the current number of judges “might solve the current backlog by 2032.”

“We know this is an issue, and we need to commit the resources to it,” Conaway said.

Conaway said he believes that the U.S. should be “a guarantor” of Israel’s security and its right to exist. He supports a two-state solution.

On Ukraine’s conflict with Russia, Conaway has called Russian President Vladimir Putin “the aggressor.”

“They are aggressively trying to take over the Ukrainian state and is prepared to exact violence against the Ukrainian people in order to do that,” he said.

Conaway said that the U.S., European allies and NATO support Ukraine “and its rightful goal to oppose and push back against Russian aggression and the territorial gains that [Russia] have made.”

Conaway made clear during his June primary victory that he wants Roe v. Wade codified. Citing his medical background, he said a woman “should be able to order [her] own steps with respect to her health care” in consultation with providers, family members or anyone important to her.

“The healthcare system should stand ready to assist her with whatever choice she makes,” he said. “This idea that a politician in Washington who thinks they know better, and most of them are men, by the way, that should be a situation that’s abhorrent to every free thinking American.”

Dr. Rajesh Mohan, Republican

Mohan is an interventional cardiologist who lives with his wife in Holmdel, Monmouth County. The couple has two adult children. He is the former chief medical officer of Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus, and is credited with improving patient care and finances at the hospital. Currently, he is president and managing partner of a practice in Lakewood.

Mohan said he, like most Americans, has a disdain for politicians.

So why become one?

He said he was inspired by what his mom taught him: to be the best that he can possibly be. Also, he wants to “elevate the game” in Congress.

“It is not me who’s going to have a hard time, they will have a hard time if they don’t play ball,” he said. “I will be truthful and honest, and I will fight for the people without any shenanigans and without any personal agendas, and that is what is going to make it successful.”

Mohan, an Indian immigrant, said there is an “existential crisis” at the southern U.S. border.

“Our entire country has pretty much become a sanctuary country, and the process of legal immigration has been put on the back burner, so to speak,” he said. “Everybody who’s been standing in a line trying to lawfully enter the country, they’ve been postponed.”

Mohan said the southern border has to be shut down, adding that it will take away “the magnet of illegal immigration.” He said those resources could be redirected toward making the legal immigration process efficient and more expedient.

“I’m all for legal immigration and asylum seekers, but this cannot continue,” he said.

On abortion, Mohan said he does not want politicians to interfere between a doctor and a patient.

“Let them make that decision based on their own fates and own beliefs, which could actually vary even in the same religion,” he said. “It is a personal belief. You cannot legislate that. And you cannot have non-medical professionals chime in there, because they have no knowledge [or experience].”

But, he doesn’t believe that “every baby at eight months” has to be aborted, citing palliative care guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Mohan said Israel “absolutely has a right to defend itself, just like any other country,” adding Hamas “has to be eradicated.”

“If somebody had done it to us, we would have retaliated and taken care of it,” he said. “You have to put yourself in their shoes to understand what they went through.”

Mohan supports a two-state solution, however, he said for that to happen, terrorism has to end.

“You cannot have a two-state solution when the other side wants the eradication of the Jewish people or the Israeli state,” he said. “How can you have a two-state solution when the other side does not even want you to exist?”

Mohan describes the conflict between Ukraine and Russia as “Cold War 2.0,” and “a fight between freedom and democracy and dictatorship.”

“I believe that we have to stop aggressors who are autocrats,” he said. “We cannot be policing the world, but we have to stand by our NATO allies.”

He adds that U.S. troops should not be sent to war unless it is to defend the United States. However, he said that the federal government should provide military supplies.

“We have to have a unified foreign policy in our country, whether it is the Republicans [or] Democrats,” he said. “We have to work as one and portray to the world our power of strength, because our strength is the deterrence to bad actors in the world.”

Steve Welzer, Green Party

Welzer lives “in the very northern part” of the district in East Windsor, Mercer County. The lifelong New Jerseyan is originally from Essex County. He holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in economics from Rutgers University but is a retired state judiciary computer technician.

Welzer said his interest in environmental issues drew him to the Green Party. His campaign platform mirrors the stances of his political party, including universal health care and supporting a Green New Deal, that address climate change.

Welzer described the southern border as “porous” for years, which is “almost like a tease to people in other countries where the quality of life is not good, to try to come and become undocumented immigrants.”

He said people who are here under those circumstances should be given a pathway to citizenship. Other than that, immigration laws should be enforced, he said.

“There should be more money put towards that whole system of securing the border and making all immigration be legal immigration,” he said. “Being very accommodative of the refugee problem, of the poor quality of life problem. But then you need legalities and finally make the whole system rational.”

Welzer said the Green Party has pressured Democrats to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law, calling the Supreme Court decision overturning the case “scandalous.”

“Every baby born should be a wanted baby,” he said. “Whether to go through with a pregnancy is a decision for a woman and her partner.”

While he said every country has a right to defend itself, Welzer said Israel is “provoking their own problems” by how the country treats Palestinians.

Welzer said Israel’s borders should return to the lines drawn before the 1967 war. Citing an effort of European, Arab and Islamic countries supporting a Palestinian state during the UN conference in September, he said the U.S. has a lot of leverage and should be joining those nations.

“The solution is known. It’s been known since 2002,” he said. “The international community has to bring the Israeli government around to accepting that for the sake of the people of Israel and the entire region.”

Welzer doesn’t support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but he would not support sending more aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia, describing it as “fueling that fire.”

“It’s absolutely decimating a whole generation of Ukrainian young men,” he said. “We should take the lead in having negotiations to end that conflict.”

Chris Russomanno, Libertarian

Russomanno is running for Congress in the 3rd District for the second time in as many years. His campaign platform includes ending the Federal Reserve and funding “endless wars.”

Russomanno spent much of his formative years in Trenton before moving to California with his father. A former Marine, he worked as a police officer for Trenton, The College of New Jersey and Ewing Township. He is a graduate of Mercer County Community College and The College of New Jersey. He now lives in Bordentown Township with his wife.

Russomanno said Libertarians are “the party of principle.” They rely on the “non-aggression principle” which stipulates “you can do whatever you want as long as you do not use first-strike force or aggression against other people.”

“We believe you shouldn’t lie, cheat or steal,” he said. “We believe you should keep your promises, and we apply these same standards to the government as well.”

Libertarians also hold the notion that taxation is theft, underscoring their belief in individual autonomy and limited government.

Russomanno criticized the government’s use of tax dollars to fund border security, citing the non-aggression principle. He said while the government promises to protect people, it has yet to do so.

“I want my money back because they’re not doing that,” he said. “If they’re not going to do what they said they were going to do, then give us our money back and let us figure it out.”

Citing his party’s philosophy of individual freedom and responsibility, Russomanno said he would prefer all land be privately owned.

For immigrants who are already in the country, Russomanno said they should be able to bring over family members and vouch for their character and whether they’ll be productive members of society. Overall, he said the current system needs to be fixed.

“Whatever is going on right now, obviously isn’t working … and nobody’s fixing it,” he said.

Russomanno believes that life begins at conception, but understands that other people don’t agree with him.

He would “remove the government from the equation completely.”

“If you think abortion is wrong, well then I guess you could donate your money to crisis pregnancy centers, which offer more life-affirming solutions instead of abortion,” Russomanno said. “If you feel the other way, you don’t donate your money to Planned Parenthood, or you go out and you help young women have abortions.”

Recalling the notion that taxation is theft, Russomanno expressed frustration over his tax dollars being sent to Ukraine and Israel toward wars he finds “morally repugnant.”

“I don’t like war. I don’t like people killing each other. I don’t want to be involved in that. I don’t want my money used for that. I don’t want to drop bombs on innocent women and children, and that’s what they’re doing with my money,” he said. “It’s the difference between you or I going, ‘Hey, I’d really like to help Israelis,’ or ‘Hey, I’d like to help Ukrainians.’ I’m going to send some of my money over there. That’s not the case.”