Why Mrs. Andrews?

By: Michael M. Shapiro

Last week, Camille Andrews, wife of Congressman and candidate for the United States Senate Rob Andrews, was selected to be on the June Primary ballot as the Democratic candidate for her husband’s seat in Congress. Is Mrs. Andrews qualified to serve in Congress? Absolutely. Is her selection a wise political move? Absolutely not. In fact, the selection of Mrs. Andrews to run for Congress undermines her husband’s insurgent campaign.

By all accounts, Camille Andrews is certainly qualified to serve in Congress and would likely be a solid member for the residents of District 1 and the State of New Jersey. She is an Associate Dean at Rutgers School of Law-Camden, teaches several classes at the law school and serves as a faculty advisor to the Rutgers Law Review. She is a former partner at Dilworth Paxson and was a star law school and undergraduate student prior to her work at the firm. She also serves on a number of community boards, including the New Jersey Cares Board.

The problem with Mrs. Andrews running for her husband’s seat is that her husband is running an insurgent campaign using a mantra of “change” against an aging incumbent. While Congressman Andrews has publicly announced that he will not seek the seat, there are rumors that Mrs. Andrews is merely holding the ballot position until party leaders formally choose a candidate, which they can do after the Democratic Primary in June. This means that despite the Congressman’s declared intentions not to seek the seat, he can still be chosen for it should he be defeated for the Senate nomination in June. As expected, Senator Lautenberg’s campaign is already using the selection of Mrs. Andrews as an opportunity to paint the Congressman as a hypocrite who talks change but just plays “politics as usual.” Other politicians have launched similar criticisms.

Congressman Andrews is very intelligent by all accounts. Why would he hand the Lautenberg campaign such an easy attack if he has no intention of reclaiming his seat if he is defeated in the June Primary or if his wife has no intention of running in November? If either of these situations were not the case, couldn’t the Congressman or his supporters find someone else willing to hold the line until the Party formally selects a candidate?

If Congressman Andrews defeats Senator Lautenberg, the Congressman needs to answer the difficult question:  If he is elected to the Senate and Mrs. Andrews is elected to Congress, how will they be able to serve given the purposeful separation of powers between the House and the Senate. In addition, the Congressman needs to address how and why his wife was chosen for his Congressional seat, especially given that he is running a campaign against “politics as usual.”

It would seem that if Congressman Andrews will not return to his House seat and if Mrs. Andrews will not be the candidate in November, the Congressman has made a grave mistake and achieved little benefit by the selection of his wife to run for his seat, possibly an error of enough significance that it will cost him an insurgent victory in June.

Michael M. Shapiro, founder of ShapTalk.com, is an attorney who resides in New Providence, New Jersey. He currently serves as the Editor of The Alternative Press, www.thealternativepress.com Contact Mike at mike@shaptalk.com