Chris Smith Wins NJ 4 Congress Race, AP Says

The Associated Press reports that Congressman Chris Smith won re-election for New Jersey's Fourth Congressional District, fending off a challenge from Democrat Stephanie Schmid.

Smith was first elected to serve New Jersey's Fourth Congressional District in 1981; January 2021 will begin his 21st term in Congress.

As of 10:22 p.m., the AP determined Smith the winner with 147,466 of the votes (56.86%) to Schmid's 107,870 votes (41.59%).

Schmid released a statement to the Asbury Park Press, saying all the votes need to be counted before a winner can be declared.

"I am strongly encouraged by the incredible voter turnout that we are seeing in New Jersey's Fourth Congressional District and across our country. I couldn't be prouder of the campaign we have run, which was fueled by thousands of grassroots supporters and volunteers throughout our district," Schmid said. "When all of the votes have officially been counted, I truly believe that we are going to surprise a lot of people and finally unseat Rep. Chris Smith, electing our first-ever Congresswoman and bringing much needed new leadership to NJ-04 for the first time in 39 years."

These are unofficial results and these are also not all the votes. If you mailed your ballot back on Election Day, it still has to be counted; if you voted provisionally at the polls, it still has to be counted and ADA-machine votes are still pending.

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Schmid is only the latest Democrat to try and unseat Chris Smith. NJ 4 is a Republican district that Democrats have been trying to "flip" to blue for years: The district has voted for a Republican in the past four presidential elections by comfortable margins: Trump, Romney, McCain and Bush.

Smith is a Congressional lifer, but he's also well known in the Fourth District. His office is known as very accessible to constituents, and he's routinely ranked as one of the most bipartisan members of Congress, meaning he often works with Democrats to get bills turned into law.

But others who live in the district say Smith's anti-abortion views are out of touch, and discriminating to women. They also say he hasn't stood up to President Trump enough.

Schmid portrayed Smith's pro-life views as extreme. Smith has also said that he believes marriage is between a man and a woman, and his views on gay and lesbian adoption have sparked controversy.

"Unless women can control their reproductive decision-making they will continue to remain second-class citizens in the U.S. and around the world," Schmid told Patch during the race. "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."

She also blasted him for not voting for bills that would have lifted New Jersey's State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap, imposed by Trump, and they disagreed on how well Trump handled COVID.

Schmid is a former U.S. diplomat. She's a Yale graduate and after getting her law degree from U.C. Berkeley, she worked as a white-collar criminal defense lawyer for Fox Rothschild. She was then hired by the U.S. Foreign Service and stationed for several years in Haiti. After that, she returned to the U.S. and worked as the legal counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights, which promotes access to abortion and birth control. She helped write the Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights Act of 2019, which was never signed into law and which Smith opposes.

Schmid moved to Little Silver before deciding to run for the Fourth District Congressional seat.

The 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.

For full coverage of the 2020 election in New Jersey, go here: New Jersey Elections 2020

Patch coverage of the 2020 NJ 4 Congress race: 4th NJ Congressional District: Schmid Challenges Smith
Rep. Chris Smith On Why He Seeks Re-Election To Congress In NJ 4
Stephanie Schmid On Why She's Running For Congress In NJ 4
Chris Smith's Former Intern Is Now Running Against Him