Rush Holt, Jr.

Rush Dew Holt Jr. (born October 15, 1948) is an American scientist and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1999 to 2015. He is a member of the Democratic Party and son of former West Virginia U.S. Senator Rush D. Holt Sr. He worked as a professor of public policy and physics, and during his tenure in Congress he was one of two physicists and the only Quaker there.

Holt sought the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in the 2013 special primary election to fill the seat of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, who died in office on June 3, 2013. He lost the nomination to Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Holt announced on February 18, 2014 that he would not seek re-election in 2014.

In February 2015, Holt became chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and executive publisher of the ''Science'' family of journals. He served in that role until his retirement in September 2019.

Early life and education

Holt was born in Weston, West Virginia, to Rush Holt Sr. (1905–1955), who served as a United States Senator from West Virginia (1935–1941), and his wife, Helen Froelich Holt (1913–2015), the first woman to be appointed Secretary of State of West Virginia (1957–1959). Holt Sr. was the youngest person ever to be popularly elected to the U.S. Senate, at age 29. He died of cancer when Rush was six years old.

Holt graduated from the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1966, then later graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BS in physics from Carleton College in 1970, and later received his MS and PhD degrees in physics from New York University in 1981. The title of his doctoral dissertation was "Calcium absorption lines and solar activity: a systematic program of observations."

Academic career

Holt was a faculty member at Swarthmore College from 1980 to 1988 where he taught physics, public policy, and religion courses. During that time, he also worked as a Congressional Science Fellow for U.S. Representative Bob Edgar of Pennsylvania. From 1987 until 1989, Holt headed the Nuclear and Scientific Division of the Office of Strategic Forces at the U.S. Department of State. Holt was the Assistant Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory at Princeton University, the University's largest research facility and the largest center for energy research in New Jersey.

Scientific journal articles

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Patent

4,249,518
Method for maintaining a correct density gradient in a non-convecting solar pond

U.S. House of Representatives (1999–2015)

Elections

;1996
Holt first ran for Congress in 1996 in New Jersey's 12th congressional district after incumbent Republican congressman Dick Zimmer decided to run for the U.S. Senate. On June 4, 1996, Holt lost the Democratic party primary, receiving 24% of the vote and finishing last of the three candidates. Lambertville Mayor David DelVecchio won the primary with 45% of the vote and Carl Mayer finished second with 31% of the vote. Holt received the most votes in Mercer County, while losing the other four counties in the district to DelVecchio and Mayer: DelVecchio won Monmouth, Hunterdon, and Somerset Counties while Mayer won Middlesex County. DelVecchio went on to lose the general election to Republican Michael Pappas.

;1998
Holt decided to run again in 1998. On June 2, 1998, Holt won the Democratic primary, defeating Carl Mayer 64% to 36%.
Holt challenged one-term Congressman Michael Pappas. The incumbent's campaign experienced a setback after he read a poem, set to the tune of " Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", praising Kenneth Starr on the floor of the House of Representatives. Holt defeated Pappas by 4 percentage points, 51% to 47%, becoming the first Democrat to represent the district in two decades. Holt won Mercer (61%) and Middlesex (60%) while losing Monmouth (48%), Hunterdon (37%), and Somerset (40%).

;2000
Holt was challenged by former Republican Congressman Dick Zimmer in the 2000 election. Holt's prior win was thought by Republicans to be a fluke, and the race attracted considerable money and advertising. The election was hotly contested and the winner was not known on election day. Zimmer was ahead on election night by just a few votes, but Holt was ahead the next day. Ten days after the election, Holt declared himself the winner by 481 votes. Zimmer challenged the results, but conceded after the count began to go against him. Holt ultimately won the election by a margin of 651 votes: 146,162 votes for Holt (48.730%) compared to Zimmer's 145,511 (48.513%), making it the only general election where Holt has not received a majority of the votes in the election. Holt won Mercer (61%) and Middlesex (56%) while losing Monmouth (48%), Hunterdon (35%), and Somerset (37%).

;2002
Redistricting after the 2000 census made Holt's district more Democratic. It added much of Trenton while losing conservative-leaning territory in Somerset and Hunterdon counties. While Holt faced a fairly well-funded challenge from Republican Secretary of State of New Jersey Buster Soaries, Holt easily won a third term, taking 61% to Soaries' 38%. He won all five counties: Mercer (68%), Middlesex (63%), Somerset (54%), Hunterdon (54%), and Monmouth (52%).

;2004
Holt won re-election to a fourth term, defeating Republican Bill Spadea 59% to 40%. He won four of five counties: Mercer (72%), Somerset (62%), Middlesex (59%), and Hunterdon (52%). He lost Monmouth (48%).

;2006

He won re-election to a fifth term, defeating former Helmetta, New Jersey Council President Joseph Sinagra, 66% to 34%. He won all five counties: Mercer (77%), Somerset (67%), Middlesex (65%), Hunterdon (61%), and Monmouth (56%).

;2008

He won re-election to a sixth term, defeating Holmdel, New Jersey Deputy Mayor Alan Bateman, 63% to 35%. He won all five counties: Mercer (77%), Somerset (66%), Middlesex (64%), Hunterdon (55%), and Monmouth (50%).

;2010

Holt raised $2,229,432 in the 2010 election cycle and spent $1,891,463. 72% came from individual donations, and 26% from PAC donations. Holt's former employer, Princeton University, was his single biggest donor, giving $56,863. Holt's opponent, Scott Sipprelle, raised $1,541,776 and spent $1,327,946. 65% of Sipprelle's funds came from self-financing. Independent Kenneth Cody refused to accept any donations.opensecrets.org
Campaign finance data on Rush Holt and Scott Sipprelle, retrieved 11/23/10. Holt won re-election to a seventh term, defeating Sipprelle, 53% to 46%. He won three of five counties: Mercer (70%), Somerset (60%), and Middlesex (52%). He lost Hunterdon (43%) and Monmouth (38%).

;2012

After redistricting in 2011, the 12th District became even more Democratic. All of the Republican-leaning portions of Hunterdon County