Shelley Adler Seeks Third District Congressional Seat

The widow of former South Jersey Congressman John Adler has announced her intentions to run for his old seat in Congress for the Democrats.

52-year-old Shelley Adler is a lawyer and former Cherry Hill Township Councilwoman. If she wins the Democratic nomination, she’ll be facing Republican Jon Runyan, the Republican who won against her husband two years ago.

Adler issued a statement to the press Monday that she wants to focus her efforts on some of the same causes her late husband worked for. Some of her ideas include fighting for the middle-class, tax cuts to those who really need them and to protect Medicare and Social Security from possible demise. So far, other Democrats who had originally expressed interest in the 3rd District seat have pulled their name out of it when they found out Adler wanted to run.

In doing so, they are saving themselves the trouble of having to go through a lengthy and expensive primary election in June. According to Ocean County Democratic Party Chairman Wyatt Earp, they are ecstatic that Shelley Adler wants to take the reins and run against Runyan in November’s election. They feel she is best suited for the job with all of the experience she had in local government and standing by her husband who successfully crushed Republicans in his 2008 run.

Republican Jim Saxton had retired the position and the Ocean County GOP pitted Adler against former Medford Mayor Chris Meyers who was recently involved in a sex scandal involving photos of him in his underwear with an alleged gay prostitute.

Republicans took control of the House in 2010 and Jon Adler couldn’t hold off Runyan, a former NFL lineman, whose fiscally conservative position made him a tea party favorite. Last April, Adler died unexpectedly at the age of 51 after tissue around his heart became infected.

Earp says “In Shelley Adler, we have not only a strong candidate and a great chance for taking back control of the 3rd District, but also someone who will do a lot for the people. She has her own ideas, not all in lockstep with her late husband. Some ideas are the same but she can and will bring a lot to the table.

The Democrats plan on a rally sometime in the near future