Steve Rothman
Steven R. "Steve" Rothman (b. October 14, 1952) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey. Rothman was first elected by voters from New Jersey's 9th Congressional District in 1997. Rothman's district was eliminated in New Jersey's redistricting in 2012, and he lost in the primary to Bill Pascrell in the newly redrawn 9th District.[1]
Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Rothman was a "rank-and-file Democrat."[2]
Biography
Rothman was born in Englewood, New Jersey. He earned a B.A. from Syracuse University in 1974, and a J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis in 1977.[3]
Career
From 1978-1993, Rothman practiced as a private attorney, outside of his stints as mayor of Englewood, New Jersey from 1983-1989, and at the Bergen County Surrogate Court from 1993-1996.[4]
Committee assignments
U.S. House
2011-2012
Rothman served on the following committees:[5]
- Appropriations Committee
- Subcommittee on Defense
- Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations
Issues
Specific votes
Fiscal Cliff
Rothman voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was one of 172 Democrats who voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257 - 167 vote on January 1, 2013.[6]
Elections
2012
Rothman ran for re-election in 2012.[7] Because of New Jersey's redistricting, Rothman faced fellow Democratic representative Bill Pascrell in the June 5 primary. Pascrell represented New Jersey's 8th District, but redistricting redrew Pascrell's territory as the new 9th District. The new 9th also included some of Rothman's territory.[8] Pascrell defeated Rothman in the Democratic primary.[1][9]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
 Bill Pascrell Incumbent |
61.2% | 31,435 |
| Steve Rothman Incumbent | 38.8% | 19,947 |
| Total Votes | 51,382 | |
Pascrell v. Rothman
Due to redistricting, Rothman faced fellow Democratic incumbent Bill Pascrell for the newly redrawn 9th District in 2012. The one-time friends faced off in the June 5 primary. Politico rated it one of the five ugliest member vs. member battles[10] and the North Jersey Record labeled it one of the most competitive primaries of 2012.[8]
Redistricting
The 8th District was eliminated as a result of redistricting in New Jersey following the 2010 census results. Rothman's territory was split into the new 9th District, which is Pascrell's new district, and Republican Scott Garrett's 5th. Rather than face Garrett in the Republican-leaning new 5th District, Rothman chose to challenge his Democratic colleague Pascrell. Pascrell resented this move, saying Rothman was "running from fights with the radical right."[11]
Ideological similarities
According to Roll Call, there is little policy or ideological difference between Rothman and Pascrell, and so voters were left decide the primary based largely on personality and location. The newly drawn 9th District encompasses a variety of demographics, and, the Roll Call article states, Pascrell is strong in the working class Passaic County, while Rothman is more at home in the white-collar Bergen County. The 9th also includes Hudson County, which may go either way.[12]
TV ads
Rothman came under criticism for a TV ad his campaign ran against Pascrell. The New Jersey Star-Ledger editorial board wrote that Rothman made "cheap shots" against Pascrell, and said a fact-check showed the ad's claims were false.[13]
Debates
February 23, 2012
On February 23, 2012, Rothman and Pascrell met for their first debate.[14]
Israel
In early 2012, a group of New Jersey synagogues encouraged their members to vote for Rothman in the primary, citing his pro-Israel stance. This prompted American Arab Forum President Aref Assaf to write an Op-Ed against what he described as putting another country above the U.S. in voting decisions. Rothman responded that he does put America first, and Pascrell distanced himself from Assaf's comments.[15]
2010
On November 2, 2010, Rothman was re-elected to the United States House for an eighth term. He defeated Michael A. Agosta (R) and Patricia Alessandrini (Green).[16]
| United States House, New Jersey General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Steve Rothman Incumbent |
60.7% | 83,564 | |
| Republican | Michael A. Agosta | 37.8% | 52,082 | |
| Green | Patricia Alessandrini | 1.4% | 1,980 | |
| Total Votes | 137,626 | |||
Endorsements
2012
President Barack Obama has met with Rothman, which has been viewed as implicit support, although he has not officially endorsed either candidate in the race.[17]
Campaign finance summary
Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.
Analysis
Congressional staff salaries
The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Rothman paid his congressional staff a total of $1,068,773 in 2011. Overall, New Jersey ranks 42nd in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[18]
Staff bonuses
According to an analysis by CNN, Rothman was one of nearly 25 percent of House members who gave their staff bonuses in 2012. Rothman's staff was given an apparent $12,800.00 in bonus money.[19]
Net worth
2011
Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Heller's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $1,676,039 to $4,216,000. That averages to $2,946,019, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic House members in 2011 of $5,107,874.[20]
2010
Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Rothman's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $1,920,058 to $5,051,000. Averaging to a net worth of $3,485,529 which was lower than the average net worth of Democrats in 2010 of $4,465,875.[21]
National Journal vote ratings
- See also: National Journal vote ratings
2012
Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Rothman tied with two other members of the U.S. House of Representatives, ranking 68th in the liberal rankings among members of the U.S. House.[22]
2011
Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Rothman ranked 129th in the liberal rankings among members of the U.S. House.[23]
Voting with party
November 2011
Steve Rothman voted with the Democratic Party 92.9 percent of the time, which ranked 88th among the 192 House Democratic members as of December 2011.[24]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Steve is a proud father of two children, John and Karen Rothman.[25]
External links
- Congressman Steve Rothman official U.S. House site
- Congressman Steve Rothman official campaign site
- Social media:
- Biographies:
- Political profiles:
- Financial (federal level):
- Interest group ratings:
- Issue positions:
- Public statements:
- Voting record:
- Media coverage:
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 WYNC "Live! NJ Election Results," June 5, 2012
- ↑ GovTrack, "Rothman" accessed May 25, 2012
- ↑ Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "ROTHMAN, Steven, (1952 - )"
- ↑ Representative Steve Rothman, Proudly Serving Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic Counties, "Representative Steven Rothman "
- ↑ Representative Steve Rothman, Proudly Serving Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic Counties, "Representative Steven Rothman "
- ↑ U.S. House, "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff," accessed January 4, 2013
- ↑ Examiner, "Another Democratic primary matchup to watch," January 13, 2012
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 North Jersey.com, "Harrison: New Jersey's competitive primaries," April 22, 2012
- ↑ New Jersey Secretary of State "2012 Primary Results"
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedpolitico - ↑ Politico, "Congress 2012: The 5 ugliest member vs. member battles" accessed April 18, 2012
- ↑ Roll Call, "N.J. 9th District race pits county vs. county," May 7, 2012
- ↑ New Jersey Star-Ledger, "With cheap shots at Pascrell, Rothman tarnishes his own integrity," May 14, 2012
- ↑ Two New Jersey incumbents thrown together by redistricting hold debate
- ↑ PolitickerNJ "Politics in Pascrell v. Rothman spills into religion," February 24, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Steve Rothman Meets With Obama, But POTUS Doesn't Endorse Him," June 1, 2012
- ↑ LegiStorm, "Steven R. Rothman," accessed October 2, 2012
- ↑ CNN Politics, "Congressional bonuses in a time of cuts," accessed March 8, 2013
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Steven R. Rothman (D-NJ), 2011," accessed February 14, 2014
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Steven R. Rothman (D-NJ), 2010," accessed October 2, 2012
- ↑ National Journal, "2012 Congressional Vote Ratings," accessed March 6, 2013
- ↑ National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," accessed February 23, 2012
- ↑ OpenCongress, "Voting With Party," accessed July 2014
- ↑ Representative Steve Rothman, Proudly Serving Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic Counties, "Representative Steven Rothman "
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Robert Torricelli |
U.S. House of Representatives - New Jersey District 9 1997-2013 |
Succeeded by Bill Pascrell (D) |
| Preceded by ' |
Bergen County Surrogate Court Judge 1993-1996 |
Succeeded by ' |
| Preceded by ' |
Mayor of Englewood, New Jersey 1983-1989 |
Succeeded by ' |
