Jon Runyan, a former Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman, defeated Democrat John Adler to become congressman from the 3rd District in 2010. Runyan grew up in the factory town of Flint, Mich., in a working-class family. His father worked for General Motors for nearly 30 years while his mother raised Runyan and his younger twin brothers. When his father was laid off in the 1980s, Runyan remembers the sacrifices his family made to make ends meet. “Some nights, the only thing on the dinner table was cornbread,” he recalled. His father worked odd jobs to keep them afloat. In high school, Runyan excelled at sports, running cross country, playing basketball and football, and becoming a two-time state shot-put champion. Standing at 6 feet 7 inches and weighing 330 pounds, he earned an athletic scholarship to the University of Michigan. He became the first person in his family to attend college, majoring in kinesiology, the science of human movement. Academics, however, were not Runyan’s strong suit, and after his first term he was diagnosed with dyslexia. “Battling through that, it was a struggle,” he told National Journal. “It eventually got easier.” Read More

Jon Runyan, a former Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman, defeated Democrat John Adler to become congressman from the 3rd District in 2010. Runyan grew up in the factory town of Flint, Mich., in a working-class family. His father worked for General Motors for nearly 30 years while his mother raised Runyan and his younger twin brothers. When his father was laid off in the 1980s, Runyan remembers the sacrifices his family made to make ends meet. “Some nights, the only thing on the dinner table was cornbread,” he recalled. His father worked odd jobs to keep them afloat. In high school, Runyan excelled at sports, running cross country, playing basketball and football, and becoming a two-time state shot-put champion. Standing at 6 feet 7 inches and weighing 330 pounds, he earned an athletic scholarship to the University of Michigan. He became the first person in his family to attend college, majoring in kinesiology, the science of human movement. Academics, however, were not Runyan’s strong suit, and after his first term he was diagnosed with dyslexia. “Battling through that, it was a struggle,” he told National Journal. “It eventually got easier.”

Runyan was drafted in the middle of his senior year by the Houston Oilers in 1996, and stayed with the team as they became the Tennessee Titans in 1997. While with the Oilers, Runyan met his wife of 13 years, Loretta, a Houston police officer. After helping the Titans reach the Super Bowl in 1999, Runyan became a free agent and signed a $30 million, six-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, making him the NFL’s highest-paid offensive lineman at the time. He played in the 2005 Super Bowl and signed a $12 million three-year contract with the Eagles in 2006; he was sidelined by a knee injury and played his last season in 2009-10 with the San Diego Chargers. A 2006 Sports Illustrated poll voted Runyan the second-dirtiest player in the NFL, but he had plenty of fans in the Philadelphia area and had a regular radio show on WPHI-FM. He settled in Mount Laurel, N.J., in Burlington County and took entrepreneurial management classes at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, though he had not graduated from the University of Michigan.

Runyan decided to run for the 3rd District seat against Democrat John Adler, a freshman who had spent 17 years in the New Jersey Senate. He had beat Republican Chris Myers by only 52%-48% in 2008. Adler had much more experience, but Runyan touted his outsider credentials as an asset. “When people question my experience, I ask them a simple question, ‘Didn’t the people with all this experience get us into this mess in the first place?’” he said. He won the June Republican primary 60%-40% over former Tabernacle Committeeman Justin Murphy. Almost twice as many people voted in the Republican than in the Democratic primary, an early sign that enthusiasm was with the GOP that year.

The general election race was particularly fierce. Democrats attacked Runyan for taking a tax break on his 25-acre estate because he kept donkeys and cut timber on 20 acres of the property. He parried that the arrangement was legal and that he had paid $61,000 in property taxes on the remaining five acres. Republicans accused Democrats of putting up a candidate on a sham New Jersey tea party line to siphon away votes from Runyan. Adler said he had no knowledge of any ploy.

Adler presented himself as knowledgeable and articulate in contrast to political newcomer Runyan. He defended the Democrats’ 2009 economic stimulus bill by saying, “My God, how much would it (unemployment) have been if we had not spent the money?” But he noted that he voted against the Democrats’ health care bill and in favor of extending the Bush-era tax cuts on capital gains and dividends. In October, with Democratic incumbents in trouble everywhere, Adler distanced himself from liberal Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Though Runyan put $350,000 of his own money into the campaign, Adler spent a total $3.3 million to Runyan’s $1.5 million.

Like many Republican challengers in 2010, Runyan ran against the policies of President Barack Obama and the congressional Democrats. Of their health care insurance overhaul, he told The Philadelphia Inquirer, “If that was such a great piece of legislation, why did they have to do all the favors to all the people to get them to sign on?” And he argued that the bill’s mandate to buy insurance violated the Constitution. He said the 35% corporate tax rate was too high and argued that “loopholes are there for a reason. And they are to avoid people from really paying too many taxes.” He opposed raising the retirement age in Social Security, and said he favored repeal of the ban on openly gay personnel in the military.

October polls showed a close race. Runyan won 50%-47%, with the N.J. tea party candidate getting just 1%. Adler carried his home area of Cherry Hill 59%-39%, and edged Runyan 53%-45% in Burlington County. But in Ocean County, where 40% of the votes were cast, Runyan led 59%-37%. In April 2011, Adler died of a heart ailment after leaving Congress.