Cho bows out of 2016 CD 5 race

Cho bows out of 2016 CD 5 race

By Mark Bonamo | 03/08/15 4:51pm

HACKENSACK – Democrat Roy Cho, the Korean-born attorney who ran an insurgent campaign in 2014 to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett (R-5) in New Jersey’s Fifth Congressional District, announced his decision on Sunday not to run again for the congressional seat in 2016.

“I’ve decided that I’m going to take a pass on running in 2016,” Cho, 33, of Hackensack, told PolitickerNJ on Sunday, noting that he just started a new job at the New York office of the Chicago-based law firm Winston & Strawn as part of its private equity group. “This is a professional decision. After talking to my family, friends and supporters, I think it’s important for me to focus on the professional side of the ledger.”

Cho’s campaign against Garrett, a conservative Republican now in his seventh term, at one point appeared close. A combination of a well-run, grass-roots campaign, a Garrett gaffe in a campaign flyer about the congressman’s actions after Hurricane Sandy and some powerful fundraiser friends got Cho within five points of Garrett with three weeks left in the campaign.

Although Cho raised around $1.3 million for his campaign with no help from the national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), money proved to be decisive in the campaign’s final weeks. According to Cho, Garrett spent $2.2 million of his campaign war chest to defeat Cho, including $1.3 million in the campaign’s last week, contributing to the eventual 55 percent to 43 percent margin of victory in favor of Garrett.

“This was the most expensive race the Fifth District has even seen, and the most money [Garrett] has ever spent against anybody,” Cho said. “What we saw in this election is the impact of money on American politics, whether it’s about local or federal races. Campaign finance is an issue that I want to keep talking about.”

https://politickernj.com/2015/03/cho-bows-out-of-2016-cd-5-race/