THERESA FURMATO VELARDI WILL RUN BID TO UNSEAT ANDY KIM IN NJ-3

Theresa Furmato Velardi, who managed the upset victories of two Republican Assembly candidates in the 11th legislative district this year, will run Bob Healey Jr.’s bid for the GOP nomination for Congress against Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown).

The race Velardi ran helped Republicans Marilyn Piperno and Kim Eulner oust two Democratic incumbents, Joann Downey (D-Freehold) and Eric Houghtaling (D-Neptune), after three terms in the New Jersey State Assembly.

Before that, Velardi, a Seton Hall Law School graduate, had served as executive director of the Monmouth County Republicans party as a protégé of county chairman Shaun Golden and county clerk Christine Hanlon.

On September 11, 2001, Velardi was six when her father, Paul James Furmato, a trader at Cantor Fitzgerald, was killed when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center.

“I am excited to join Bob Healey’s strong team in our fight to win back the 3rdCongressional District, take back the House majority, and send a conservative job-creator to represent us in Washington,” Velardi said.

Healey, who runs Viking Yachts, one of the largest private sector employers in Ocean County, faces Rev. Shaun Hyland, the former executive director of the Family Policy Alliance of New Jersey, Mount Holly Board of Education member Will Monk, businessman and U.S. Army veteran John Barker, and perennial candidate Tricia Flanagan, in a bid for the chance to take on Kim.

The New Jersey Congressional Redistricting Commission will launch a marathon meeting today to draw House districts for the 2022 mid-term election.

Original source can be found here.