Rep. Michael Ferguson (R) Elected 2000, 2d term
Born:	July 22, 1970, Ridgewood
Home:	Warren
Education:	U. of Notre Dame, B.S. 1992, Georgetown U., M.P.P. 1994
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	married (Maureen Malloy)
Professional Career:	H.S. teacher, Mount St. Michael Acad., 1992-93; Exec. Dir., Better Schools Fndt., 1994; Dir., Save Our Schoolchildren, 1994; Exec. Dir., Catholic Campaign for America, 1995-97; Adjunct Prof., Brookdale Com. Col., 1997-2000; Founder & Pres., Strategic Educ. Initiatives, 1997-present.
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The transportation arteries beneath the curve of the First Watchung Mountain are one of New Jersey's historic lines of development. The rail lines of the late 19th century opened up commuter suburbs; in the 1940s the four lanes of U.S. 22 created an automobile civilization; and finally I-78, completed in the mid-1980s, put Newark only an hour's distance from the Pennsylvania line. Interstate 78 stimulated the development of an Edge City called Bridgewater Commons, where a huge shopping mall and office developments that included the new headquarters of AT&T rose up amid horse country around Far Hills and Bernardsville, where the likes of Malcolm Forbes and Charles Engelhard owned huge estates.

The 7th Congressional District, with its contorted boundaries, covers these several generations of suburban development. It ranges across the breadth of the state, from the outskirts of Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the west almost to Staten Island in the east. It is an agglomeration of places, some of affluence, not a district with a distinct character--the 7th includes parts of 4 counties, and parts of places such as Edison, Woodbridge, Bridgewater, Linden and Union. Its easternmost points are in Union County, just shy of Newark International Airport. It includes Summit, Scotch Plains and North and South Plainfield, but not heavily Democratic Plainfield. It follows I-78 and the Watchung Mountains far into the countryside; it includes western Somerset County--prime horse farm country--and most of fast-growing Hunterdon County to the west. There is a political imperative for the weird shape of the district: The 7th was designed as part of the bipartisan congressional incumbents' plan to put heavily Democratic areas in the adjacent 12th, 6th and 10th districts while moving heavily Republican areas formerly in those districts, to this one. As a result, the Bush 2000 percentage in the 7th rose from 43% to 49%--the biggest partisan change in any New Jersey district.

The congressman from the 7th District is Michael Ferguson, a Republican elected by a narrow margin in 2000 and reelected easily in 2002. He grew up in Ridgewood; after graduating from Notre Dame, he taught history as an unpaid volunteer and coached basketball at Mount St. Michael Academy in the Bronx. He served as executive director of the Catholic Campaign for America and the Better Schools Foundations in Washington; during that time, he focused on education issues while earning a master's degree in public policy from Georgetown. He returned to New Jersey to found Strategic Education Initiatives, an education consulting firm, and became an ally of Jersey City's Republican mayor Bret Schundler and a backer of school choice. In 1998, Ferguson challenged Frank Pallone in the 6th District, spending $1 million but losing 57%-40%.

When Bob Franks decided to give up the neighboring 7th District seat to run for the Senate in 2000, Ferguson moved to the district and entered the contest. He faced serious opposition in a four-way primary. Ferguson raised the most money and focused on fiscal issues, but Tom Kean Jr., son of the popular former governor, had the highest name recognition and the most early endorsements; State Assemblyman Joel Weingarten, the only candidate previously elected to office, suffered from votes to raise taxes. A fourth candidate had little impact. Ferguson focused on cutting taxes--a unifying issue for Republicans. He won with 41% of the vote, to 28% for Kean and 23% for Weingarten. In the general, Ferguson faced Fanwood Mayor Maryanne Connelly, a retired AT&T human resources executive who in 1998 lost to Franks by 53%-44%, his closest race ever. Ferguson barely mentioned his conservative views--for school prayer and a constitutional amendment banning abortion--but emphasized his centrist positions on the environment and health care. He publicized his support for a waiting period for gun purchases and mandatory trigger locks. But his centerpiece issue was education: He strongly backed school vouchers and urged increased accountability for public schools. Against the 55-year-old Connelly, a widow without children, Ferguson highlighted his youthfulness and two children. Ferguson won by 52%-46%, running about even in the older suburbs and carrying the newer suburbs by wide margins.

In the House, Ferguson has been near the center on economic and cultural issues but more conservative on defense. He was one of 13 Republicans voting to uphold the Clinton administration's ergonomics regulation, he joined Patrick Kennedy at a press conference urging increased funding for special education and he voted against oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Health advocacy groups cheered when he removed his name as cosponsor of a tobacco-control bill backed by that industry. But he voted for the Bush tax cuts and trade promotion authority.

Ferguson's voting record plus the changes made by redistricting made him much stronger in 2002 than in 2000. House Democrats removed him from their top tier of targets. His Democratic opponent, financier Tim Carden, was a serious candidate who raised nearly $1 million; Ferguson raised more than twice that. Ferguson won 58-41%. He lost Middlesex County 54%-45%, but won with 56% in Union County, 62% in Somerset County and 68% in Hunterdon County. House Republican leaders evidently have no problems with Ferguson's liberal votes on some issues; in January 2003 they gave him a much-sought seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee. Shortly afterwards, he announced he would not run for governor in 2005.

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DC Office
214 CHOB 20515, 202-225-5361; Fax: 202-225-9460; Web site: www.house.gov/ferguson

State Offices
Martinsville, 908-757-7835.

Committees

• Energy & Commerce (28th of 31 R): Commerce, Trade & Consumer Protection; Health; Oversight & Investigations.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	CON	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2002	5	13	0	38	75	100	55	85	84	74	67
2001	20	--	20	71	--	--	58	87	58	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2001 LIB	--	2001 CONS		2002 LIB	--	2002 CONS
Economic	50%	--	50%		42%	--	58%
Social	46%	--	54%		46%	--	53%
Foreign	33%	--	60%		29%	--	67%
For National Journal's complete 2002 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 107th Congress (More Info)
1. Approve Bush Tax Cuts Y 2. Limit Patients' Bill of Rights Y 3. Campaign Finance Reform Y 4. Ban ANWR Development Y 5. Faith-Based Charities Y 6. Bar Gays in the Boy Scouts Y		7. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  8. Arm Commercial Pilots N  9. Trade Promotion Authority Y 10. Bar Funds for Intl. Court Y 11. Authorize Force in Iraq Y 12. Deny Home. Sec. Dept. Union Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2002 general	Michael Ferguson (R)	106,055	58%	$2,089,022
	Tim Carden (D)	74,879	41%	$948,467
	Other	2,068	1%
2002 primary	Michael Ferguson (R)	unopposed
2000 general	Michael Ferguson (R)	128,434	52%	$2,294,820
	Maryanne Connelly (D)	113,479	46%	$1,837,766
	Other	7,086	3%

2000 presidential
	Bush (R)	127,702	49%
	Gore (D)	124,699	48%
	Other	9,099	3%
For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Seventh District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R + 1
• District Size: 603 square miles
• Population in 2000: 647,257; 90.4% urban; 9.6% rural
• Median Household Income: $74,823; 3.4% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 15.7% blue collar; 74.5% white collar; 9.8% gray collar; 10.6% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 79.0% White, 4.4% Black, 8.2% Asian, 0.1% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 1.2% Two+ races, 0.2% Other, 6.9% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 15.3% Italian, 13.0% Irish, 11.7% German
• Click here for statewide demographic data.