Residents in New Jersey’s Fifth Congressional District (representing sections of Bergen, Passaic, Sussex and Warren counties) should get to know the Republican candidate challenging three-term Congressman Josh Gottheimer—Nick De Gregorio.
De Gregorio served for nine years as an infantry officer in the United State Marine Corps, with stints in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa and other locations. More recently, he worked as an associate in the Equity Synthetics Sales and Trading Division at the Bank of America. He received a master of business administration and master of science in foreign service from Georgetown University. De Gregorio and his wife, Emily, have two children.
The Jewish Link sent questions via email to the Nick De Gregorio for Congress campaign and received the following responses, which were edited for space constraints.
The Jewish Link: What shortcoming(s) in the member Congress currently representing your district prompted you to run for this congressional seat?
De Gregorio: Josh Gottheimer is a career political insider who is tone deaf to concerns from his constituents—all Americans—that members of Congress are in it for themselves, not for us. For example, last year alone, Rep. Gottheimer traded $60 million in call options on the stock market. Not in his six years in office, not in his lifetime, but last year alone. While there is nothing wrong with being a savvy investor, the fact is that as a member of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Gottheimer’s stock trades and subsequent profits pose a legitimate conflict of interest. We can do better than that. We must do better than that if we hope to pass on an America to our children that is better than the one we were handed by our forebears.
I have signed a pledge to divest myself of stocks if I am elected to Congress. That degree of transparency is the least I can do for those who I soon hope to represent. I have called on Josh to sign the same pledge, but to date he has not replied.
If elected, what are your top three priorities for when you take office?
1. We need to clean up Washington. Self-serving political careerists like Josh Gottheimer are the roadblocks to progress. I believe restoring integrity to the halls of Congress is an essential first step of returning ourselves to American prosperity. And I hope to bring the sense of duty and honor I learned in the Marine Corps with me if I am fortunate enough to earn the support of the voters of the Fifth District.
2. We need school choice now. My wife and I moved back home to Bergen County after my nine years in the Marines because we both loved growing up here as kids. We accepted high taxes because of the quality of the schools in our communities. But now we are sending our daughter to private school, at great cost. We do not believe that students should be mandated by the government to wear a mask. We believe that our children’s vaccination status should be a decision made at the kitchen table, not by some bureaucrat in Trenton or Washington.
We do not believe that a child’s ZIP code should be the determinant of his or her success. Every American parent should have the right to decide what school their child attends, and a portion of the exorbitant taxes we pay to live in Northern New Jersey should help fuel that choice.
3. We need our allies to trust us and our enemies to respect us. The shameful retreat of Afghanistan and the loss of 13 young service members last August is unforgivable to me. We lost two guys when I was deployed there in 2014, so I would be lying if I said the Biden administration’s handling of “my war” wasn’t personally offensive.
But as problematic as that evacuation was on its own, the subsequent repercussions have been absolutely disastrous. Russia has invaded Ukraine. China rattles its saber against Taiwan. Iran threatens our Israeli brothers’ and sisters’ right to exist on a daily basis. Our allies now wonder if they can count on us, and I wonder if they are right. This administration has been a disaster for our nation’s ability to engage in diplomacy around the world, and they have been aided and abetted by a feckless Congress.
What are your thoughts on the importance of the U.S./Israel alliance? What would you do to improve the situation in the Middle East? Do you have an opinion on the BDS movement?
The BDS movement is a poison that I hold in the lowest regard. Those who have studied history will know that Israel not only has the right to exist, but to thrive as a uniquely Jewish state. The Israeli government continues to extend an olive branch to the Palestinian Authority, and yet Gazans’ continued election of terrorist groups who openly call for death to Jews makes peace an impossibility. What do we expect Israel to do in this situation, cease being a growing nation? If Palestinians were serious about peace, they would seek it out by sending good faith actors to the bargaining table, where they would find able Israelis willing to work toward genuine peace and co-existence. Israel, and the world, waits for the Palestinian Authority. Not the other way around.
What do you think Congress can do to counter the alarming rise of antisemitism in the U.S.? What could you do, as a member of Congress?
As a member of Congress, I can set an example that all people are created equal, and treat everyone I encounter based on the content of their character, not the color of their skin, their religion, ethnicity, gender, etc. Moreover, as a member of Congress, I can ensure that we are investing in education that preaches tolerance and acceptance of those different from us, not the divisive identity politics that is tearing us apart. We must also support our local law enforcement officers, and increase the level of security and public safety in our communities and specifically around places of worship.
What role do you see the federal government playing in managing the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and on schools?
I think the government has done quite enough to destroy the livelihoods of small business owners and the ability of our children to learn in the classroom. I believe it is the role of the federal government to foster a free market and a school system that is accessible to all. I believe it then falls to families and individuals to decide which strategies are best for them, when it comes to managing the risk of COVID. And I believe it is well within the role of a Congressman to rail against any governor or municipal authority who denies us our rights as individuals to do so. Josh Gottheimer has been deafeningly silent here because he isn’t willing to do or say the hard things that could make him less electable. I think we deserve someone who is actually willing to advocate on behalf of his constituents. After, all that is the purpose of the position he holds.
What do you think were the most significant accomplishments of Donald Trump’s administration? What were the most significant shortcomings?
I don’t think there has been a single perfect president in our 246 years of nationhood, and there were certainly things President Trump said and did that I don’t agree with, and would not want to emulate. That said, President Trump deserves credit for substantial achievements, such as the defeat of ISIS, the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital (finally), the creation of a COVID vaccine in record time, and a foreign policy that forced our adversaries to think twice before crossing the United States of America.
This election is not about Donald Trump. It is a referendum on Joe Biden. We are dealing with 8% inflation, which will destroy our economy if left unchecked. Nowadays I’m lucky to fill up my gas tank for $3.49 a gallon. Last week I couldn’t buy my 10-month-old son’s baby formula because of supply chain issues. These are not problems we should be experiencing in America.
I can’t help but think of that famous Ronald Reagan quote when he was running against Jimmy Carter in 1980: Are we better off now than we were four years ago? By nearly every metric, the answer is no. That is why I am running for office. I’ll be damned if I am going to be among the first generation to leave my kids an America that is worse than how I found it.
