New Jersey: Bill Pascrell Wallops Steven Rothman in Primary

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Rep. Bill Pascrell trounced fellow Democratic Rep. Steven Rothman in New Jersey’s 9th district primary today, in what was the fourth Member-vs.-Member race to be decided this redistricting cycle.

Pascrell won a lopsided 70 percent to 30 percent victory over Rothman, with 78 percent of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press.

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New Jersey: Steven Rothman Meets With President Barack Obama

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File PhotRep. Steven Rothman just got a big boost.

Rep. Steven Rothman just received a big boost.

On the day President Bill Clinton hit the campaign trail for his fellow Democrat and rival, Rep. Bill Pascrell, Rothman countered by meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House.

He tweeted soon after he was spotted on the White House grounds.

@SteveRothmanNJ: “President Obama invited me to the Oval Office this AM to express his support for my re-election. Thank you Mr. President! Full story

New Jersey: Steven Rothman Makes Serious Television Buy in New York Market

Rep. Steven Rothman is going big in the last days of his Democratic primary against Rep. Bill Pascrell in New Jersey’s newly drawn 9th district.

His campaign just released a television ad about the environment that is on the air in the expensive New York City market. The money behind it is well into the six figures. Redistricting forced both Members to compete for the same Democratic-leaning seat.

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New Jersey: More Members Side With Bill Pascrell

More Members have donated to Rep. Bill Pascrell in his race against a fellow Democratic incumbent. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

With less than a week to go before the primary, more Members are picking sides in the battle between New Jersey Democratic Reps. Steven Rothman and Bill Pascrell.

The Member-vs.-Member race has already revealed divided allegiances among legislators. The bulk of Member donations have been directed to Pascrell, who is also getting a campaign visit Friday from President Bill Clinton. Full story

New Jersey: Bill Clinton Holds Rally for Bill Pascrell

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

President Bill Clinton will headline a Friday rally for Rep. Bill Pascrell, whom he previously endorsed over a fellow Democratic Member.

“I know Bill Pascrell, and he is the fighter we need to support President [Barack] Obama,” Clinton said in a statement offered by Pascrell’s campaign.

Pascrell faces Rep. Steven Rothman in next week’s primary after the Garden State lost a House seat in redistricting. Full story

New Jersey: A Poll, Robocalls and Presidential Politics

Rep. Bill Pascrell's campaign released a poll that showed his race with fellow Democratic Rep. Steven Rothman to be very close. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

With less than two weeks until the primary, today was a big day in the Member-versus-Member race between Demcratic Reps. Bill Pascrell and Steven Rothman of New Jersey.

Before the close of business, political observers got their first glimpse of polling, the Pascrell camp released robocalls from President Bill Clinton and Obama senior adviser David Axelrod made news while campaigning for Rothman in the district.

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New Jersey: House Leaders, Reality Star Donate to Bill Pascrell

Rep. Bill Pascrell is facing off against a fellow Democrat in a primary next month. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Two members of House Democratic leadership have donated to Rep. Bill Pascrell in his Member-vs.-Member fight against fellow New Jersey Rep. Steven Rothman.

Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn (S.C.) and Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (Conn.) have sent checks to Pascrell, although one of the donations was much more recent than the other.

Clyburn donated a total of $7,000 through his PAC and campaign committee Friday, according to Pascrell’s latest 48-hour fundraising report. Larson’s campaign committee donated $2,000 Dec. 31, just days after it became clear that a Member-vs.-Member race was shaping up between the two men. Full story

New Jersey: David Axelrod to Campaign for Steven Rothman

Rep. Steven Rothman (above) picked up support from senior Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Updated: 4:57 p.m. | Senior Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod is set to campaign on behalf of Rep. Steven Rothman on Wednesday in his tough 9th district primary against fellow Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell. The Bergen County Record first reported the news.

President Bill Clinton endorsed Pascrell earlier this month, and Axelrod’s move to campaign for Rothman sets up a rematch of sorts of the 2008 Democratic presidential primary. In that contest, Rothman was an early Obama backer; Pascrell endorsed then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

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New Jersey: Bill Clinton Endorses Bill Pascrell

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Updated 2:36 p.m. | President Bill Clinton has done it again.

Today he announced he is backing Rep. Bill Pascrell (D) over fellow Democratic Rep. Steven Rothman in their New Jersey primary. This is the third Member-vs.-Member race the former president has waded into — and in each case he has backed the lawmaker who supported his wife in the 2008 presidential race.

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New Jersey: Steven Rothman Notes Past Loyalty to President Bill Clinton

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

WOOD-RIDGE, N.J. —Rep. Steven Rothman isn’t losing sleep over President Bill Clinton and the possibility that he might endorse Rep. Bill Pascrell in the contentious Democratic primary.

It has been widely noted that the 2008 Democratic presidential primary has come back to haunt several House candidates who backed now-President Barack Obama over then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, as did Rothman. The former president, in some cases to devastating effect, has waded into redistricting-generated Member-vs.-Member Democratic primaries on behalf of the individual who backed his wife for president in 2008.

But Rothman, now embroiled in a bitter primary with 2008 Clinton-backer Pascrell, points to a loyalty to the former president that goes back a decade before 2008, when his political survival was on the line. Rothman emphasized his ”very strong defense of him when I was on the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment proceedings” in explaining why he doesn’t fear Clinton or expect him to get involved in this race.

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New Jersey: Steven Rothman Goes On the Air

Rep. Steven Rothman is on the air with his first ad in the Member-vs.-Member race against Rep. Bill Pascrell. The two are vying for the Democratic nomination in New Jersey’s 9th district.

The ad makes it clear this is a race to the left. With words like “Democratic values” and “progressive” and an image of the candidate with President Barack Obama, Rothman is clearly trying to burnish his Democratic bona fides.

Anti-Incumbent Super PAC Adds Jones, Moran to Target List

Rep. Walter Jones Jr. is one of two Members that an anti-incumbent super PAC has decided to target. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Updated 7:39 p.m. | The Campaign for Primary Accountability plans to launch spending crusades against Reps. Walter Jones Jr. (R-N.C.) and Jim Moran (D-Va.) as part of the super PAC’s growing list of targeted races.

The deep-pocketed super PAC also announced a “Watch List” of more than two dozen veteran Members whom it plans to evaluate and potentially target during the height of primary season during the next three months. Full story

New Jersey: John Lewis Backs Pascrell Over Rothman

Rep. Bill Pascrell (above) was endorsed by Georgia Rep. John Lewis in his New Jersey race against Rep. Steven Rothman. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Georgia Rep. John Lewis is the first to take sides in New Jersey’s Democratic Member-vs.-Member race, backing Rep. Bill Pascrell over Rep. Steven Rothman.

“Bill Pascrell is my friend and my brother,” Lewis said in a statement. “I serve on the Ways & Means Committee with him. We work together. I have visited his district. He is a hard working and dedicated Member of Congress. He speaks up and speaks out for the people he serves. He deserves the help and support of all the people of his district.”

Morning Roundup: Member-Vs.-Member Races

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

The front page of today’s Roll Call features Shira Toeplitz’s report from the ground in Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio, on the Democratic primary between Reps. Marcy Kaptur and Dennis Kucinich. Their March 6 contest will be the first of 12 Member-vs.-Member races decided this redistricting cycle.

The numbers in the redrawn 9th district, which stretches 120 miles along Lake Erie’s shoreline, favor Kaptur over Kucinich because it takes in more of her current territory. But, as Toeplitz points out, long odds have never stopped the two-time failed presidential candidate and one-time “boy mayor” of Cleveland from running before. Full story

FEC for Breakfast: Member-Vs.-Member Race Fundraising

At Roll Call, there’s no race like a Member-vs.-Member contest. Here’s the fundraising breakdown for these redistricting-forced battles, plus our picks for which Member won the money battle in the fourth quarter:

Democrats Vs. Democrats:

• CA-30:  Rep. Howard Berman obliterated Rep. Brad Sherman by bringing in almost eight times his haul in the fourth quarter. Berman raised just more than $1 million, while Sherman raised just $126,000. Sherman still has more in his bank account with almost $3.7 million in cash on hand. But Berman is quickly catching up and now has close to $2.9 million in the bank. MONEY WINNER: Berman, by eight-fold.

• CA-44: Rep. Laura Richardson raised more than Rep. Janice Hahn in the fourth quarter, bringing in $103,00 compared with the newly elected Congresswoman’s $77,000. Richardson had more in the bank, too, with $132,00 in cash on hand. Hahn reported $76,00 in cash on hand. MONEY WINNER: Richardson, by a little.   Full story