New York Times endorses Adler, Lance, Shulman

The New York Times today endorsed two Democrats and one Republican in New Jersey’s three hot congressional races.

The Times picked State Sen. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) over Republican Medford Mayor Chris Myers in the 3rd Congressional district, writing that he “is a thoughtful, moderate Democrat who has helped ban smoking and curb predatory lending.”

But the paper, a frequent target of Republicans, picked State Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Flemington) over Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) in the 7th District, writing that both are “excellent candidates,” but that Lance’s “leadership qualities and his voice of moderation are needed now in Congress and in the Republican Party.” 

In the 5th District, Democratic challenger Dennis Shulman has had a good week.  He won the times endorsement today over incumbent Rep. Scott Garrett (R-Wantage), who the times noted backs a constitutional ban on abortion, including cases of incest and rape, and supported President Bush’s tax cuts.  The paper supported Shulman because he would “work to mitigate global warming. He would also take an interest in psychological counseling and educational opportunities for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.”

But a poll commissioned by the liberal blog Daily Kos (but done by the non-partisan Research 2000) shows him trailing Garrett by 7%, 47% to 40%.  A month old poll by the same company showed him trailing by twice that amount.  That comes after political analyst Larry Sabato changed the race’s ranking from “likely Republican” to “leans Republican.”