John Herbert Adler was a
U.S. Representative for
New Jersey's 3rd congressional district, serving from 2009 until 2011 died from infective endocarditis he was , 51.. He was a member of the
Democratic Party. He was formerly a member of the
New Jersey Senate from 1992 to 2009, where he represented the
6th Legislative District. The district stretches from the suburbs of
Philadelphia to
Ocean County. He lost the 2010 congressional election to former football player
Jon Runyan (of the
Philadelphia Eagles).
(August 23, 1959 – April 4, 2011) |
Early life, education and career
Adler was born in
Philadelphia and moved to
Haddonfield, New Jersey when he was two years old. His father owned a small dry cleaning store. When Adler was in high school, his father passed away after a series of heart attacks. Adler and his mother lost the family business, and survived off his father's
Social Security benefits for widows and minors. He attended
Haddonfield Memorial High School. He went on to receive an
B.A. from
Harvard College in Government, and earned a
J.D. from
Harvard Law School.
[4] He paid for law school through student loans, grants and working odd jobs throughout college.
Early political career
From 1988 until 1989, Adler served on the
Cherry Hill Township Council. While serving on the Council, Adler passed the township’s ethics ordinance.
[5]
In 1990, Adler challenged incumbent Jim Saxton for his seat in
New Jersey's 13th congressional district. Adler was defeated by Saxton by a margin of 60% to 40%.
[6]
New Jersey State Senate
Adler was elected in 1991 to the
New Jersey State Senate, where he served from 1992 until his inauguration into the
U.S. House of Representatives in 2009. While in the
New Jersey State Senate, Adler served on the Judiciary Committee (as Chair) and the Environment Committee. He served on the New Jersey Israel Commission since 1995, and on the New Jersey Intergovernmental Relations Commission from 1994 to 2002.
[4]
Adler applauds a motion of the New Jersey Legislature.
[edit] Legislation
Adler was co-sponsor of the New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act, enacted in 2006, which banned smoking in almost all public places.
[7] Adler was one of three co-sponsors of a Senate bill submitted in 2008 that would extend the smoking ban to casinos and simulcasting facilities, which had been exempted in the earlier version of the ban.
[8]
Adler co-sponsored legislation that strips government pensions from public employees who are convicted of or plead guilty to corruption charges.
[9]
Adler co-sponsored a bill that would expand voting rights for military personnel and New Jersey citizens overseas to include state and local elections. The bill was signed into law on August 12, 2008 by Governor Corzine.
[10]
U.S. House of Representatives
Committee assignments
U.S. Congressman Adler was ranked by
The National Journal as one of the ten most centrist members in the House of Representatives. He is ranked as 50.5 percent liberal and 49.5 percent conservative.
[11]
Legislation
| This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (July 2010) |
- In November 2009 and March 2010, Adler voted against House and the Senate Health Care bills.[12][13][14] He did not signed a petition circulated by Iowa Republican Steve King calling for a complete repeal of the law.[15]
- Adler was in favor of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.[16]
- Adler voted against the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), and has voted to end the program.[17]
- Adler voted in favor of the American Clean Energy and Security Act.[18]
- Congressman Adler has voted for the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. He also voted for legislation that would prevent credit card companies from taking advantage of consumers by banning commonly occurred abuses.[19][20]
- In January 2009, Adler announced his first bill as a U.S. Representative: the Safeguarding America's Seniors and Veterans Act. A version of this bill passed and provided a $250 one-time economic recovery payment for seniors and disabled veterans.[21] The bill was designed to provide non-working seniors and veterans with the same $500 tax credit that all working Americans received through the Making Work Pay tax credit in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.[22]
Political campaigns
2004 presidential election
On October 7, 2003, along with
Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey's 8th Congressional District, Adler formally endorsed
Senator John Kerry for
President and became the Co-Chairman of John Kerry's campaign in the Garden State. Shortly afterwards on December 19, 2003,
Governor of New Jersey Jim McGreevey and most of the New Jersey Democratic Party came out in support of Former
Governor of Vermont Howard Dean for President. Because of this endorsement for Kerry, and Kerry's decisive win in the Democratic Primary, Adler was rumored to be the frontrunner for
U.S. Attorney for New Jersey if the Senator from
Massachusetts had won the
2004 presidential election.
2008
On September 20, 2007, Adler announced that he planned to challenge Saxton in
New Jersey's 3rd congressional district.
[23] On November 9, 2007, Saxton announced that he would not seek reelection in 2008, citing
prostate cancer, leaving the seat open in the upcoming congressional elections.
[24] Adler was unopposed in the Democratic primary, and faced Republican
Medford Mayor,
Lockheed Martin executive, and
Gulf War veteran
Chris Myers.
[25]
During the 2008 election cycle, Adler was one of the first elected officials in New Jersey to endorse
Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in a state where the party establishment supported
Hillary Clinton. Adler held a financial advantage over his opponent through all of the race, holding a 10-1 or 5-1 funding edge over Myers for a majority of the campaign.
[26] Adler had raised the most money in the country of any non-incumbent congressional candidate.
[27][28]
Adler received a number of endorsements for the election, including those from the Teamsters,
Fraternal Order of Police, National Association of Police Organizations, Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey,
[29] New Jersey Environmental Federation, The
Sierra Club, the Humane Society Legislative Fund, The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Health Care, and the Recreational Fishing Alliance.
[30][31][32]
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee committed $1.7 million in ad buys to Adler's campaign.
[33] In comparison, the NRCC committed $84,200 in coordinated ad buys with the Myers campaign, in addition to help the NRCC gave in financing an internal poll in September with the Myers campaign. Myers also benefited from two ad buys by the 501(c)(4) organization
Freedom's Watch, which attacked John Adler on his tax record, his legislative history, and contributions he received from subprime mortgage companies.
[34][35]
Adler won a majority of newspaper endorsements. He was endorsed by the
Press of Atlantic City,
[36] the
Philadelphia Inquirer,
[37] the
New York Times,
[38] the
Burlington County Times,
[39] the
Courier Post,
[40] Myers received the endorsement of the
Asbury Park Press.
[41]
The 3rd district race was the last one to be called in New Jersey on Election Night 2008. Adler ultimately defeated Myers with 52.08% of the vote to Myers' 47.92%.
[42] He was sworn into his position as the Congressman from the 3rd district of New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives on January 6, 2009, the first Democrat to represent this district in 123 years.
[citation needed]
2010
Adler was challenged by Republican nominee
Jon Runyan, NJ Tea Party nominee Peter DeStefano, Libertarian nominee Russ Conger, and Your Country Again nominee Lawrence J. Donahue.
Runyan is a former
Philadelphia Eagles star and a
Mount Laurel resident. Republicans will be heavily targeting this seat in this election cycle.
[43] A potential warning sign for Adler came in the New Jersey gubernatorial race in 2009, when Republican candidate Chris Christie carried Adler's district by 17 points over Democratic Governor Jon Corzine
[44]
Some Democratic operatives have asserted that Adler campaign staffers and the Camden County Democratic Committee (CCDC) recruited Tea Party candidate Peter DeStefano in an attempt to split the conservative vote and benefit Adler. New Jersey Tea Party groups said they had never heard of DeStefano until he had a strong showing in a July poll released by the Adler campaign.
[45] On October 8, 2010, the Associated Press reported, based on the details of an earlier article at CourierPostOnline.com, that there was "mounting evidence" that the Democrats recruited DeStefano. The article noted that a Democratic Party employee ran DeStefano's website and that many of the signatures on DeStefano's nominating petitions belonged to Democrats - including a former Adler campaign staffer.
[46] Reportedly, Steve Ayscue, the paid head of operations for CCDC, and Geoff Mackler, Adler's campaign manager, presented a plan at CCDC Headquarters during a May 26 meeting of the South Jersey Young Democrats, and some of those present soon joined in circulating a petition to place Peter DeStefano on the ballot.
[47] DeStefano will appear on the "NJ Tea Party" line on the November 2 ballot.
[47] Adler denies the allegations.
[48][49] DeStefano called the suggestion that he is a Democratic plant
"a bunch of crap".
[48]
Governor
Chris Christie campaigned hard for Runyan, calling Adler a
"career politician". Adler lost in the 2010 midterm elections against Runyan.
[50]
Personal life
Adler met his wife Shelley, in law school. He converted to her faith of Judaism in 1985, having been raised an Episcopalian.
[51] After they graduated, they returned to South Jersey and settled down in Cherry Hill. They resided in Cherry Hill with their four sons until his death.
Death
In March 2011, Adler contracted a staph infection which resulted in
endocarditis leading to emergency surgery. He never recovered and died on April 4, 2011. He is survived by his wife and four sons.
[52]
To see more of who died in 2010 click here
Lawrence William Shepard was a manager in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1968 to 1969 died he was , 92. During his playing days, Shepard was a right-handed pitcher who played minor league baseball from 1941 through 1956, with time out for military service during World War II. He attended McGill University in Montréal, Québec.
Shepard became a playing manager in the Brooklyn Dodgers farm system in 1948, with Medford of the Class D Far West League. His club finished second, thanks to the 22–3 record of his star pitcher – Shepard himself. He then moved up to the Billings Mustangs of the Class C Pioneer League, where, as a pitcher, he won 21, 22 and 24 games in successive (1949–1951) seasons. As a skipper, his 1949 club won the league playoffs.
