Chris Smith's Former Intern Is Now Running Against Him

COLTS NECK, NJ — Congressman Chris Smith has a new challenger in 2020 — and it's one of his former interns.

Yes, Stephanie Schmid, 39, a Democrat, hopes to unseat the Fourth Congressional district's longtime congressman, Smith, a Republican. Schmid is a human rights lawyer (she went to Yale for undergrad and her law degree is from U.C. Berkeley) and a former diplomat who was stationed in Haiti. As a teen growing up in Ridgewood in Bergen County, she was placed in Smith's office through a nonpartisan internship program in the summer between her junior and senior years in high school.

"They placed you geographically so that's why I was placed with Smith, being from New Jersey," Schmid told Patch in a phone interview Wednesday.

Among other things, she disagrees with Smith's well-known stance against abortion, calling his pro-life views "extreme."

"Rep. Smith has always been clear that he does not believe in a woman's right to choose, and he does not believe women get to make their own healthcare decisions. I've known from a very young age that this is a right that is absolutely essential to women," she told Patch. "Unless women can control their reproductive decision-making they will continue to remain second-class citizens in the U.S. and around the world."

Smith has often said his strong Catholic faith guides his thinking, and every year, he continually votes in support of the Hyde amendment, which prohibits federal taxpayer dollars from being used for abortion. In 2017, Smith voted in favor of a national ban on late-term abortions after five months in utero, at which point a fetus has been found to experience pain. In 2017, Smith sponsored legislation that permanently banned federal funding for abortion for women except in cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother. Smith also voted yes on banning 'partial-birth" abortions, except if the life of the mother is at risk.

Schmid said she also takes issue with Smith's support of the "global gag rule," which prevents international non-profits from receiving U.S. aid if they discuss or perform abortions, and his vote against the Violence Against Women Act, after it was expanded in 2013 to included protections from domestic violence for LGBTQ victims.

"He believes it is overly broad," said Schmid. "I want to be clear because a lot of the other media have made this just about abortion and it's not: It's about a world view. In his view, he sees women and LBGTQ people as second-class citizens, and not deserving of the same protections as white heterosexual men. And that's how he votes."

But at the time, Smith said on the House floor that he voted against the Violence Against Women Act because it took $5 million in funding away from his Trafficking Victims' Act.

Past challengers have often attacked Smith over abortion before, and his campaign had this to say last year:

"Voters in the district — regardless of party — know that Chris Smith is pro-life. They have always respected Smith for his honesty, his courage and the compassion he shows toward both women and children, regardless of their own position on abortion," a Smith spokeswoman, Mary Noonan, told Patch last year, back when Democrat Josh Welle tried — without success — to unseat Smith.

Despite efforts nearly every year, Democrats haven't been able to unseat Smith, who has represented the area since 1981. The Asbury Park Press actually endorsed Smith over Welle last year, and before Welle, former Asbury Park Councilman Jim Keady tried to obtain the Democratic primary nomination twice against Smith without success.

Before Schmid decided to run for Congress, she worked as the legal counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights up until last month.

Her formal campaign will launch Sept. 7.

According to WHYY, Schmid will be running against three other Democrats: David Applefield, a writer who moved to Red Bank earlier this year just before he registered to run against Smith; Tiffany Kaszuba, a former lobbyist representing nonprofits who recently moved back to Howell; and Christine Conforti of Ocean Grove, a holistic business and leadership coach.

Schmid will be in a primary election against these other Democrats; the general election will be in November in 2020.

The fourth congressional district covers nearly all of Monmouth County, including towns such as Holmdel, part of Middletown, Colts Neck, Rumson, Manalapan, Freehold, Red Bank and Wall Township. The fourth district also reaches into Jackson and Lakewood in Ocean County and Hamilton and Robbinsville in Mercer County.

As the years have proven, it's just hard to shake Smith: After the 2018 midterms — largely seen as a referendum on Trump in a state where he's highly unpopular — Smith emerged as New Jersey's only Republican congressman to keep his seat. Last year's midterms were a bloodbath for the state's four other Republican congressman — Tom MacArthur, Leonard Lance, Rodney Frelinghuysen and Chris LoBiondo — all of whom either lost their seats or chose not to run.

The fourth district has voted for a Republican in the past four presidential elections by comfortable margins: Trump, Romney, McCain and Bush.

Smith has represented Monmouth and Ocean counties for an incredible 20 terms in Congress — another facet that makes him an easy target

“It’s time for Chris Smith to be sent into retirement back in Virginia, where he lives and owns a home, and he no longer represents the values of New Jersey and my community,” Schmid told WHYY.

Smith has also freely admitted he owns a home in Virginia, which he says many congresspeople do, to be closer to his wife and children while working on the Hill. It's worth pointing out that Middlesex County's Democratic Congressman to the north, Rep. Frank Pallone, owns a home in D.C., as well. Smith's children, now fully grown adults, all attended school in Virginia. He also owns a house in Hamilton Twp., New Jersey.

Schmid herself only moved back to New Jersey just this past June, to Little Silver, a town in the Fourth District. It appears she has not lived in New Jersey since she was a teen growing up in Ridgewood.

Schmid did say that it was while working in Rep. Smith's office as a teen that she was first exposed to and learned a great deal about global human rights issues. For example, Smith attracted nationwide fame after he helped Holmdel resident David Goldman get his abducted son back from Brazil.

"I saw him speak many times before Congress on human rights, and I credit his service on that committee for expanding my horizons and pointing me in that direction," Schmid told Patch. "But we come to these issues from a fundamentally different perspective."

"I am going to stand up for everyone, whether they are an undocumented immigrant housekeeper in the fourth district or a wealthy millionaire living in the fourth district," she continued.