The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page B08

B8 www.philly.com THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Saturday, December 19, 2009 Runyan ready to seek N. J. Congress seat Others in GOP also eye 3d District. Flya WWII Warbird Choose a T6-Texan (with dual controls you set to fly), or a North American B-25 Mitchell Bomber (the only model still flying in the world). We guarantee your History Flight will be "the thrill of a lifetime" -for a great cause.

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i m. 'DhsuB century, until last year, when a well-financed John Adler, then a Democratic state senator from Cherry Hill, won it. Until yesterday, Runyan had spoken exclusively through Chris Russell, a prominent Burlington County Republican campaign adviser, about his wish to unseat Adler. Runyan previously was unaffiliated, and registered as a Republican only last month. Though he's a political newcomer, 13 years in the NFL have trained him well, he said yesterday.

Politics and football "are both brutal in their own ways. They're both very competitive," said Runyan, who has been involved with charities for leukemia, dyslexia, and Alzheimer's disease. Politics "will keep my blood churning," he said. "It will get the physical thing off me and feed that fire that's in me to go out day in and day out and put in time and hard work. I'm 100 percent committed to this." Runyan was injured last season and this year tried out for the Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, and Buffalo Bills.

When the San Diego Chargers picked him up late last month, he told sports reporters he wasn't yet fully committed to the congressional run. Now he says he will run in a primary if necessary. Republicans are trying to avoid a primary like the one they had in 2008 that pitted Burlington and Ocean Counties' powerful GOP machines against each other and drained party resources. But both sides seem to want their way. Burlington GOP Chairman Bill Layton is behind Runyan and Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore said State Sen.

Chris Connors Ocean) is his first choice. Others, including Toms River Councilman Maurice Hill, a retired admiral, and former state Lottery Commissioner Virginia Haines, also of Toms River, are seeking the party's nod as well. Democrats' "biggest hope is CHARLES FOX Staff Former Eagles lineman Jon Runyan says he plans to spend time talking with voters after the Super Bowl. we get into that primary fight," Gilmore warned this week. "I say, let's all take a deep breath, slow down, and pick the right candidate." Ocean County Republicans usually make their endorsement at a March convention, he said, but they could move it up to February to help a candidate put together a campaign and begin fund-raising in earnest.

Campaign money may eclipse many of the issues in this race. Runyan said yesterday he had not figured out how much of his own money he would spend. Adler already has raised more than $1 million. The national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has targeted him in a program aimed at protecting vulnerable incumbents and is closely watching Republican activity here. The National Republican Congressional Committee has attacked Adler since his earliest days in office.

Adler stunned some when he recently broke with House Democrats on the health care bill, saying it did little to curb the rising costs of health care. Generally, he has voted with his party. Republicans hope that the anger and fear over a sour economy that Gov. -elect Christopher J. Christie tapped into during his gubernatorial campaign will still be directed at Democrats in November.

Adler is a vigorous campaigner and has stayed on the trail, holding dozens of town hall meetings in the district. He has deflected questions about Runyan, saying through a spokeswoman yesterday that his time is spent "consistently fighting to turn our local economy around." Contact staff writer Cynthia Burton at 856-779-3858 or cburtonphillynews.com. INVENTORY REDUCTION Dm Ud MONDAY 3 GREAT SALE DAYS SATURDAY SUNDAY By Cynthia Burton INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Former Eagles offensive lineman Jon Runyan is "100 percent committed" to running for Congress from South Jersey after the Super Bowl. From a San Diego hotel room, the new Chargers tackle yesterday undertook his first interviews as a Third District congressional aspirant, in a burst of telephone calls with political reporters. He said he was ready to take on a "dumb-jock" stereotype Democrats were likely to push.

And as soon as football season ends, on Feb. 7, he will spend time talking to voters about the issues. He criticized President Oba-ma for fixing a withdrawal date on the latest surge of troops into Afghanistan. He said that proposed health care legislation won't cut costs enough, and that he doesn't believe government should be involved in the business of health care. The 36-year-old Mount Laurel resident also said that with the benefit of hindsight he probably would have voted for the bank bailouts and restricting executive pay, because those strategies seem to have worked.

After announcing they had gotten Runyan to run for the House, Burlington County Republicans had kept the political novice under wraps. Runyan repeatedly failed to return calls from reporters seeking details on his agenda and his positions on issues. Even yesterday's brief chats were recorded and monitored by Runyan's political handlers, who are grooming him for what is likely to be one of the most competitive congressional races in the country. In New Jersey, where politics is the leading blood sport, the race also is likely to be one of the ugliest. The Third District runs through Burlington and Ocean Counties, and includes Cherry Hill in Camden County.

It had been held by Republicans for much of the last Del. senator joins WHYY criticism U.S. Sen. Ted Kaufman Del.) said yesterday that he wants the FCC to require WHYY TV12 to provide more local coverage of Delaware. His call on the floor of the Senate came a week after the City of Wilmington challenged the public station on its First State coverage.

The expressions of dissatisfaction with the station's involvement in Delaware comes as WHYY seeks renewal of its broadcasting license, pending since 2007. Kaufman said the station, which receives support from tax revenues, has cut Delaware-oriented coverage over the last 40 years from 162 hours to 30 minutes a week. He rejected the station's claims that it makes up the difference in radio and Internet coverage. In May, WHYY announced that it would close its Wilmington studio and Dover bureau, and lay off most of the staff in Delaware. In July, the station ended the state-focused nightly news program Delaware Tonight, and now runs the half-hour weekly show First, which repeats throughout the week.

WHYY spokesman Art Ellis said, 'We remain firmly commit-ed to serving the needs of Delaware. We not only meet our license requirements, but actually do much more than required by the FCC. We devote more time to Delaware than to any other community we serve." Although the studio is for sale, he said, 'We are working with the City of Wilmington to find new space." He said the station's recent decision reflects changes in the media market. "Both commercial and noncommercial TV news are losing revenue. More and more people are getting their news from the Web, and we're trying to change to reflect the times." John Timpane EXTRA DISCOUNTS ON SPECIAL ORDERS! GOING OUT OF BUSINESS After 11 Years in Cherry Hill and Now in Pennsauken, NJ Persian Oriental Rugs From 2' 3' to Mansion Size Our first ever Biennial Inventory Reduction and Floor Sample Clearance Sale is almost over! It seems to be the nature of our fashion and design oriented home furnishings business that, over time, we accumulate fine furniture and accessories.

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