SOMERS POINT — The Atlantic County Democratic Committee has chosen career law enforcement officer Tim Alexander to face U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew in the November election for the Second Congressional District.
The 47th annual Atlantic County Democratic Convention was March 20 at the Gateway Playhouse in Somers Point.
Also endorsed were Habib Rehman for an at-large seat on the County Board of Commissioners, Commissioner Ernest Coursey for re-election to District 1 and Jay R. Shah for District 4.
“Our party is strong and united heading into 2022,” Chairman Michael Suleiman said. “We congratulate Tim Alexander on his victory and want to commend Hector Tavarez and Carolyn Rush for their great campaigns.”
More than 250 Democrats viewed the convention, either in-person at the Gateway Playhouse or virtually via Zoom. There were 208 delegates who voted in the election for Congress.
According to his web site, timalexanderforcongress.com, Alexander was born in Newark and made southern New Jersey his home in 1980. He and his wife, Anna, have three children.
Alexander worked as a detective captain for the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office in Mays Landing in charge of the criminal investigation section. He participated in programs that encouraged collaborative relationships between law enforcement, individuals and the organizations they serve.
Alexander was motivated to bring change to the way law enforcement agencies interact with the public after being racially profiled by the police wherein he was shot at, assaulted and falsely arrested because of misidentification.
During his career, he focused on programs that worked to develop alternative solutions to problems within communities and increase trust in law enforcement.
Alexander earned a bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, in business management from Drexel University in 2006 and a master’s degree in business administration from Drexel University LeBow College of Business in 2008.
Alexander went on to earn his juris doctorate from Rutgers University School of Law in Camden in 2012.
After retiring from the Prosecutor’s Office, Alexander began working for the Philadelphia district attorney, ultimately as a major trials prosecutor. During his tenure, Alexander was a member of the Philadelphia Youth Aid Panel, a diversion program to give first-time juvenile criminal offenders the option of appearing before a panel of community volunteers rather than entering the juvenile court system.
Alexander later joined the Civil Rights Unit of the Philadelphia Solicitor’s Office. After leaving public service, he went into private practice handling civil litigation for Helmer, Conley & Kasselman, P.A., where he continues to provide legal services in many aspects of law but concentrates his practice on civil rights and employment discrimination.
Alexander’s top issues, as stated on his web site, are gun violence, social justice and civil rights, women’s rights, protecting democracy, affordable health care, jobs and the economy, LGBTG+ advocacy and the environment.
Rehman is an Atlantic City-based small-business owner who lives in Brigantine. Coursey is running for re-election for a fourth term in the 1st District. Shah works in the banking industry at Well Fargo and lives in Galloway Township.
Uphill battle in Second District?
Alexander faces an uphill battle. The Second is a Republican-leaning district.
Van Drew has both name recognition and a district that just became more conservative.
Van Drew has been serving as an elected official in the Cape-Atlantic area for some three decades, first as a mayor of Dennis Township, then as a Cape May County freeholder (commissioner). Van Drew was elected as the state assemblyman for the First District in 2002 and held that position until 2008, when he was elected as the district’s senator, all as a Democrat.
He served until 2018, when he ran for the Second Congressional District in 2018. As a Democrat, he defeated Republican Seth Grossman by a 52.9 to 45.2 percent margin.
In 2019, near the end of his first year in office, he switched political affiliation to the Republican Party. In the 2020 election, running as a Republican, Van Drew beat Democrat Amy Kennedy by a 51.9 to 46.2 percent margin.
The sprawling Second District encompasses Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties and parts of Gloucester and Ocean counties. When the congressional redistricting in New Jersey was approved in December 2021, the expansion into Ocean County added more conservative voters, giving Republican candidates an added edge.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff