Candidates In Campaign Sprint To Win New Jersey's 3rd Congressional District Seat
By Cleve Bryan
BORDENTOWN, N.J., (CBS) -- Democrat Aimee Belgard and Republican Tom MacArthur are in an all out campaign sprint to win New Jersey's 3rd Congressional District seat.
MacArthur walked side by side with Governor Chris Christie shaking hands with the lunch crowd Thursday at Mastoris Diner in Bordentown.
"Stakes are high, our country is going in the wrong direction and we need people that can get us going in the right direction," says MacArthur whose Republican Party has held the 3rd District for 20 out of the last 22 years.
Before heading out to her own event Thursday afternoon, Belgard spent the morning with volunteers making calls on her behalf to voters.
"Knowing the issues that are important to the people here in the 3rd District I think is what it's about. That's a real contrast between myself and my opponent Tom MacArthur who's looking to come here and buy himself a seat on Congress," says Belgard.
She is a lawyer raised in Haddonfield, N.J. and was elected to the Edgewater Park Township Committee in 2009 and then to the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 2012.
MacArthur is a former insurance executive and mayor of Randolph Township in Morris County. He moved to Ocean County to pursue the Congressional seat now held by Jon Runyan who has decided not to run for re-election.
A September poll by Stockton College showed the two candidates even at 42 percent, but a Monmouth University Poll in October has MacArthur with a 10 point advantage at 51 percent to 41 percent.
Belgard's platform includes raising the minimum wage, lowering student loan payments and fighting for equal gender pay.
MacArthur wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, make a flatter tax code and create jobs through investing in infrastructure.
Both say they'll be strong advocates for veterans and the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
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