According to the Associated Press, New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney has officially lost his legislative seat to a conservative truck driver who spent just $153 on his campaign, Ed Durr. Durr, a conservative, pro-life Christian, defeated Sweeney 52-48%.
NBC Philadelphia reports:
A post-election campaign finance report filed after this story published shows a slate of three local candidates, including Durr, spent a little over $2,300 in the past year. A previous finance report had shown only $153 spent by the candidates.
“Well, I’m a numbers guy and I’ve looked at the numbers over the years,” Durr said in an August interview with conservative commentator Elizabeth Nader. “We have a district that is 150,000 voters. Senator Sweeney has never broken 32,000 votes … and so I felt if he can’t even get half the district, that means there’s numbers out there to be taken, and you just have to get people to come out and vote. I believe if they come out and vote, we could win,” Durr said.
“Not everybody has to have a lot of money to run. All they have to do is have a heart for the people, and he’s got a heart for the working people,” his mother, Gloria Durr, told NBC10 Wednesday. She also shared that her husband of 63 years, Edward Durr Sr., died just two weeks ago and that her son, despite being on the campaign trail, “was right there by his dad’s side throughout.”
Durr’s Facebook bio reads that he is “blue collar with a strong conservative belief” and that he is “for lower taxes and fiscal responsibility.”
Finally: you don’t HAVE to be a rich man to get elected!