David Richter, a millionaire former CEO of Hill International, moved from Mercer County to Cape May County just this past fall to run for Congress against then-Democrat Jeff Van Drew in New Jersey’s 2nd District.
That was before Van Drew switched parties from Democrat to Republican with the support of President Donald Trump.
Now, with GOP support coalescing around Van Drew and just days before Trump will hold a rally with him in Cape May, Richter is considering once again changing congressional districts. He may instead seek the Republican nomination in the 3rd Congressional District instead to run against freshman Democrat Andy Kim.
“I am considering a move to the CD-3 race, but I haven’t made a final decision yet,” Richter said in a phone interview.
Another Van Drew primary opponent, Brian Fitzherbert, dropped out of the race Friday. That leaves Van Drew with just one primary opponent: Bob Patterson, a former Trump administration Social Security aide.
The potential district switch was first reported by the New Jersey Globe, which said that former Gov. Chris Christie had been helping to engineer the potential district switch. The New York Times reported earlier this month that Richter had been in talks with Republicans in the president’s orbit about potentially switching to the 3rd District in mid-December, as rumors of Van Drew’s impending change of parties swirled.
“I’ve had several conversations with Chris Christie throughout the campaign,” Richter said. “Let me just say he and I have had very positive, very productive conversations about the race, and I’ll leave it at that.
I do consider our conversations private.”Richter has been the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in the 2nd District prior to Van Drew’s switch. After Van Drew became a Republican, Richter saw his top staff resign and accused Van Drew of political opportunism, saying the congressman — who had seen Democrats begin to abandon him after his refusal to back impeaching the president — “switched parties because he was going to lose, and this is an attempt to save his own job.”
Richter said he will make a decision on switching districts “soon,” but “not today.”
Richter is the second New Jersey Republican to switch districts in recent days in order to clear the way for a candidate with the backing of the party establishment.
Rosemary Becchi, a tax attorney and lobbyist, announced Tuesday that she would move her congressional campaign from the 7th District — where state Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R-Union) has the most party support to take on freshman Democrat Tom Malinowski — to the neighboring 11th District, where she wants to challenge freshman Democrat Mikie Sherrill.
The moves all involve congressional districts Democrats flipped from Republican control in 2018. Democrats went from a 7-5 majority in New Jersey’s House delegation to 11-1 — though Van Drew’s party switch last month shrunk their majority to 10-2.
Unlike Becchi, who has a clear path to the GOP nomination in the 11th District, Richter is entering a race where local Republicans already have a favored candidate: former Burlington County Freeholder Kate Gibbs. A phone call to Gibbs was not immediately returned.
“I think Kate is a great lady. If I do decide to run, she’ll be the first call I make. If I don’t decide to get in the race, there’s nothing to talk about,” Richter said.