Congressman Jeff Van Drew from New Jersey is the newest member of Republican Party in the House after he recently left the Democratic Party. Now Van Drew’s former campaign manager has signed on to work for his opponent.
Joshua Roesch, who ran Van Drew’s campaign in 2018 wrote on Twitter that Van Drew “turned his back on South Jersey families,” adding, “This week, I signed on to work for [Amy Kennedy], a public school teacher, mental health advocate and mom of five that will never stop fighting for South Jersey.”
.@CongressmanJVD turned his back on South Jersey families.
— Josh Roesch (@joshuadro) January 13, 2020
This week I signed on to work for @AmyKennedy715, a public school teacher, mental health advocate, and mom of 5 that will never stop fighting for SJ. #NJ02
Help us out: https://t.co/hLCZnaV6wGhttps://t.co/vPTRikbAKx
Roesch told NJ.com, “I thought I was working for a Democrat. I’d like to go work for a Democrat still.”
Roesch’s new boss praised him, telling NJ.com, “His experience in this district and nationally will help us run the campaign we need to communicate our message about getting politics back to the business of doing what’s right and serving our community, not ourselves.”
Van Drew’s staffers left his office en masse after he decided that he would switch parties. Just after he made the decision, five senior staffers left, saying in a letter, that Van Drew’s “decision to join the ranks of the Republican party led by Donald Trump does not align with the values we brought to this job when we joined his office.”
The New Jersey Congressman said that he finally decided to switch parties after a local political leader in his district told him that he had to vote for impeachment — when the vote fell, Van Drew voted against both articles of impeachment. Around the same time, he appeared at the White House and pledged his “undying support” to President Donald Trump.
Van Drew has a number of Democratic opponents in the race but Amy Kennedy is probably the highest-profile figure to appear in the race. She is married to former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, who represented Rhode Island.
