Adler holds lead on former Eagle Runyan in South Jersey congressional race, poll says

Adler holds lead on former Eagle Runyan in South Jersey congressional race, poll says In South Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District, freshman Democrat U.S. Rep. John Adler leads Republican challenger Jon Runyan 40 percent to 31 percent among registered voters, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll released this morning. “John Adler appears so far to be bucking the tide of anti-incumbency and anti-Democratic feeling among all registered voters,” said poll director David Redlawsk.

Independent Peter Destefano, who is running with the slogan “NJ Tea Party” but who has been disavowed by local tea party groups and accused by Runyan of being a Democratic plant, garners 6 percent of the vote. In August, Adler led Runyan 31 percent to 25 percent, with Destefano at 4 percent. The 3rd District – which stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Delaware River, covering parts of Ocean, Burlington and Camden Counties – is the most competitive in the state this year. Adler in 2009 became the first Democrat to represent the district since the 1880s.

A former state senator from Cherry Hill, Adler has bucked his party leadership several times. He voted against the new health care law and just yesterday circulated a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, signed by 47 Democrats, opposing the Obama administration’s plans to let Bush-era tax cuts expire on capital gains and dividends income for those making $200,000 and married couples making over $250,000. Runyan, a former tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles, has sought to tie Adler to Democratic leadership, especially House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Adler’s lead over Runyan narrows to 41 percent to 39 percent when the poll uses a likely voter model – a lead within the survey’s margin of error.