David Applefield

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

David Applefield

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

July 7, 2020

Personal

Birthplace

Elizabeth, N.J.

Religion

Jewish

Profession

Writer

David Applefield (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey's 4th Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on July 7, 2020.

Applefield completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Applefield died on July 8, 2020.

Biography

David Applefield was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He attended Amherst College and Northeastern University. His professional experience included working in media, publishing, and journalism. Applefield was a member of Monmouth Museum at Brookdale College, Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls, the Citizens Climate Lobby Lincroft Chapter, the Monmouth Regional Chamber of Commerce, Rotary International, and the Amherst College Alumni Association.

Elections

2020

See also: New Jersey's 4th Congressional District election, 2020

New Jersey's 4th Congressional District election, 2020 (July 7 Democratic primary)

New Jersey's 4th Congressional District election, 2020 (July 7 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House New Jersey District 4

Incumbent Chris Smith defeated Stephanie Schmid, Hank Schroeder, Michael Rufo, and Andrew Pachuta in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 4 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Smith (R)	59.9	254,103
		Stephanie Schmid (D)	38.3	162,420
		Hank Schroeder (Make Change Happen Party)	0.8	3,195
		Michael Rufo (L)	0.6	2,583
		Andrew Pachuta (Common Sense Party)	0.5	2,067

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 424,368
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 4

Stephanie Schmid defeated Christine Conforti and David Applefield in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 4 on July 7, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stephanie Schmid	67.4	38,444
		Christine Conforti	25.1	14,331
		David Applefield	7.4	4,244

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 57,019
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jim Keady (D)
• Tiffany Kaszuba (D)
• Hassan Shehadeh (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 4

Incumbent Chris Smith defeated Alter Eliezer Richter in the Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 4 on July 7, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Smith	94.8	51,636
	Submit photo	Alter Eliezer Richter	5.2	2,853

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 54,489
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

David Applefield completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Applefield's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a creative thinker, communications professional, and small business owner. I live and work in Red Bank, New Jersey. As a writer, journalist, and publisher, I am dedicated to restoring faith in public office by generating dialog, listening carefully to residents, and creating tangible solutions and innovative ideas for stimulating the local economy and energizing New Jersey communities.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Advocating for affordable and accessible health care and medication.
• Investing in quality education, starting with paying our teachers well, and providing for affordable paths for college and training.
• Combating climate change and environmental dangers while transforming these urgent challenges into economic opportunities.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Health care must be accessible and affordable to everyone, but this requires an openness to innovative solutions and creative dialog among all players including insurers, pharmaceutical companies, health providers, civic society, media, tech partners, and patients.

Building working models of prosperity within our local economy. The key to creating jobs, creating wealth, and bringing down taxes is thinking locally.

The environment, with climate change at the center, and including clean air, clean water, and access to healthy food, must be pre-requisites for a better future for our community.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Henry David Thoreau: he was a leading transcendentalist and independent thinker with deep social consciousness and profound understanding of our nature. Also Nelson Mandela, an inspiring defender of racial and social justice showing the power of compassionate activism.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

A strong presence. The ability to listen carefully without judgement. Having a dynamic list of leaders and problem solvers to call upon for help and advice. Creativity.

Our problems need to be connected to our ambitions and our dreams and our talents. Seeing the connection between disparate things. Having the enthusiasm and drive to find solutions.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am an ideas person. I am solutions-oriented. I have the ability to talk to people who may not share the same ideas, party, or worldview - without judgement and without argument. I love to find the things that connect us.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

As an English major, an instructor in literature, and book publisher, this is a tough one. I would have to say Ulysses by James Joyce because it is a work of fiction that taught me how to read the world, and to understand that there are endless levels of reality.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Finding the balance between moral leadership and technological innovation. Rediscovering our global leadership as both a moral and innovative force for positive transformation.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

I think US Congresspersons should be limited to four terms of three years each, 12 years. Senators should be limited to two terms of 6 years each, 12 years. Presidential term limits can stay as is - 2 terms of 4 years each.

The current Congressman for my Congressional District, Chris Smith, has had a reign of 39 years. This is shameful, and limits the district's ability to be rejuvenated by fresh ideas.

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

I hear powerful stories every day. Just the other day I spoke with a 92 year old woman on the phone who lives in Lakewood, and she sang a song to me that she sang for Queen Elizabeth as a girl on her way from Poland to New Jersey as a Holocaust survivor. I've heard stories from teachers who buy books for their classes because the school system has no budget, from a man in Neptune City who mourned the loss of wildlife in the Shark River due to climate change, a 74 year old African American mayor in our district who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, telling me that 20% of the cost of his surgery and chemo treatment were not covered by his Medicare policy. There is no end to the stories. I have a lot of positive ones too!

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2020 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

Coronavirus Weekly Updates Documenting America's Path to Recovery The Heart of the Primaries The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel Union Station

External links

• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

[show]

New Jersey's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Cory Booker (D)

Andrew Kim (D)

Representatives

District 1

Donald Norcross (D)

District 2

Jeff Van Drew (R)

District 3

Herbert Conaway (D)

District 4

Chris Smith (R)

District 5

Josh Gottheimer (D)

District 6

Frank Pallone (D)

District 7

Thomas Kean (R)

District 8

Robert Menendez (D)

District 9

Nellie Pou (D)

District 10

LaMonica McIver (D)

District 11

Mikie Sherrill (D)

District 12

Bonnie Coleman (D)

Democratic Party (11)

Republican Party (3)