Rodney Frelinghuysen

This is a candid shot of Rodney Frelinghuysen at the Caldwell Street Fair. Mr. Frelinghuysen is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a Republican who represents New Jersey's Eleventh Congressional District, which includes Caldwell, in Washington. This was yet another lucky shot of mine. Representative Frelinghuysen was out the campaign trail, searching for votes. Despite the current animosity towards the Republican Party, though, Frelinghuysen will win a seventh term easily. The Eleventh District is solidly G.O.P. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is one of Representative Frelinghuysen's constituents.Rodney Frelinghuysen was first elected in 1994 when our previous congressman, Dean Gallo (also a Republican) decided not to seek re-election because of his battle with cancer. (Alas, Gallo died two days before Mr. Frelinghuysen was elected to succeed him.) Although Representative Frelinghuysen was part of the class of Republican U.S. House members that gave the G.O.P. its first House majority since 1994 (Sonny Bono was one of his classmates!), he was not elected in a fit of anger against Democrats. It's simply been a safe Republican seat for years. Representative Frelinghuysen is the scion of New Jersey's greatest political dynasty. Theodore Frelinghuysen was a U.S. Senator and Henry Clay's vice presidential running mate on the Whig ticket in 1844. Frederick Frelinghuysen was a Republican U.S. Senator who later became Secretary of State under President Chester Arthur. Peter Frelinghuysen, Rodney's father, was a U.S. House member from 1953 to 1975.(One other thing about Theodore Frelinghuysen: He didn't make it to the vice presidency. Democrat James Knox Polk was elected President in 1844, and his Vice President, George Dallas, got Texas's sexond-largest city named for him because of his support for annexing Texas; all the Frelinghuysens got was an avenue in Newark, N.J. named for them.)