Born in Bergen County in the town of Englewood, Garrett spent much of his life living in North Jersey. He was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1991, and was re-elected five times, serving from 1992 to 2003, representing the 24th legislative district, which covered all of Sussex County and several municipalities in Morris and Hunterdon counties.
Garrett unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Congresswoman Marge Roukema in the 1998 and 2000 Republican primaries, on both occasions running well to the right of Roukema, a leading moderate Republican.[1] In 2002, Roukema retired and Garrett won a contested five-way primary with 46% of the vote over State Assemblyman David C. Russo and State SenatorGerald Cardinale.[7] Of the three major candidates, Garrett was the only one from the more rural western portion of the district, while Russo and Cardinale were both from Bergen County. Although Bergen was the most populous county in the district, Russo and Cardinale split the vote there, while Garrett dominated his base in the western portion of the district.
In the 2002 general election, Garrett faced Democratic candidate Anne Sumers, an ophthalmologist and former Republican.[8] Garrett beat Sumers with 60% of the vote.[9]
Garrett was reelected in 2004 with 58% of the vote. In 2006, Garrett defeated Republican primary opponent Michael Cino. In the November 2006 general election, Garrett defeated Paul Aronsohn, a former employee of the U.S. State Department during the Clinton Administration, to win a third term. Garrett defeated Democrat Dennis Shulman 56%–42% in the 2008 general election. In 2010, Garrett defeated Tod Theise, receiving 65% of the vote. In 2012, Garrett defeated Democrat Adam Gussen with 55% of the vote.[10]
In 2014, Garrett defeated Democratic nominee Roy Cho with 55% of the vote.[11]
Redistricting after the 2010 census made the 5th slightly more Democratic, as it gained heavily Democratic Hackensack and Teaneck. John McCain carried the old 5th with 54 percent of the vote in 2008,[12] but would have only won the new 5th with 50.5 percent of the vote.[13]
2016
Garrett ran for re-election in 2016 as the Republican candidate, besting Michael Cino and Peter Vallorosi in the primary. He faced former Clinton administration speechwriter Josh Gottheimer, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.[14] In an article published by OpenSecrets, Garrett was revealed to be heavily reliant on the financial sector to fund his campaign.[15] In 2015, it was reported that Garrett stated he would not pay dues to the NRCC because they had supported openly gay candidates. Gottheimer and national Democratic groups used these comments to attack Garrett as too socially conservative for the district, while Wall Street firms that had donated to Garrett for years reduced their contributions.[16]
Gottheimer won the general election on November 8, 2016, with 50.5% of the vote to Garrett's 47.2%.[17] While Garrett carried three of the four counties in the district, he could not overcome a 33,800-vote deficit in the district's share of Bergen County; he lost overall by 14,900 votes.[18]
On May 8, 2013, Garrett introduced the Budget and Accounting Transparency Act of 2014 (H.R. 1872; 113th Congress), a bill that would modify the budgetary treatment of federal credit programs.[20] The bill would require that the cost of direct loans or loan guarantees be recognized in the federal budget on a fair-value basis using guidelines set forth by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.[20] The bill would also require the federal budget to reflect the net impact of programs administered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.[20] The changes made by the bill would mean that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were counted on the budget instead of considered separately and would mean that the debt of those two programs would be included in the national debt.[21] These programs themselves would not be changed, but how they are accounted for in the United States federal budget would be. The goal of the bill is to improve the accuracy of how some programs are accounted for in the federal budget.[22]
Tenure
Garrett compiled an unshakably conservative voting record. This was unusual for New Jersey, a state where the brand of Republicanism has traditionally been moderate. He held a lifetime rating of 99.3 from the American Conservative Union.[23] He was one of the most conservative lawmakers ever to represent New Jersey in Congress, and was considered one of the most conservative members of the House.[24] While in Congress, he founded and led the House Constitution Caucus.[25]
During his time in Congress, Garrett was a member of the Liberty Caucus.[26] He was a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, which serves as a policy alternative to the Republican Study Committee, and is the only New Jersey representative to have been a member of the Freedom Caucus.[27]
As a state legislator in 2005, he proposed public schools include lessons on intelligent design alongside evolution. Garrett said he would not advocate for a law mandating changes to the state curriculum.[36]
In July 2007, Garrett proposed an amendment to strike earmarked money in a spending bill for native Alaskan and Hawaiian educational programs.[37] Congressman Don Young of Alaska defended the funds on the floor of the House, saying, "You want my money, my money."[37] Young went on to suggest that Republicans had lost their majority in the 2006 election because some Republicans had challenged spending earmarks.[37] While Garrett did not ask for an official reprimand, other conservative Republicans took exception to Young's remarks that the funds in question represented his money. Members of the Republican Study Committee gave Garrett a standing ovation later in the day during the group's weekly meeting.[37]
LGBT rights
Following the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States by the Supreme Court of the United States in 2015, Garrett supported the First Amendment Defense Act, a bill allowing companies to deny service to same-sex weddings due to religious objections.[38]
Also in 2015, Garrett refused to pay GOP campaign arm dues to the National Republican Congressional Committee because he said they were "actively recruiting homosexual candidates and had supported gay candidates in the past."[39] Garrett later clarified his remarks, saying that he is opposed to same-sex marriage due to his faith, but that he does not "have malice" toward any group of people.[40] Regarding his stance opposing gay Republican political candidates, he said that political opponents in the media distorted his views; while he affirmed that it was "everybody's right" to run for office, he reiterated his opposition to funding the campaigns of candidates who support same-sex marriage.[41]
Suffrage
In 2006, Garrett was the only congressman from New Jersey to vote against the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, citing his opposition to requirements to print non-English ballots.[42]
Export-Import Bank nomination
On April 14, 2017, PresidentDonald Trump announced that he would nominate Garrett to become chairman and president of the Export–Import Bank of the United States.[43][44] While in the House of Representatives, Garrett was a critic of the bank's existence.[2] On June 19, 2017, Trump formally nominated Garrett to the post, which requires confirmation by the United States Senate.[2]
Senator Sherrod Brown, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, was surprised by the nomination, saying that he had been led to believe that Trump would not go ahead with choosing Garrett in light of the opposition.[2] Brown predicted that no Democrats would vote for Garrett, and that some Republicans would also be "unhappy with [the nomination]."[2]
In August 2017, Politico reported that Trump would give Garrett a chance to rescue his nomination after privately questioning whether the nomination should proceed. Conservatives opposed to the Ex-Im Bank "have ratcheted up pressure on the administration to stick with Garrett’s nomination." Republican U.S. Senator Pat Toomey said: "I can tell you there will be Republican senators including myself who will put up quite a fight if his nomination doesn't go forward."[47]
On December 19, 2017, the Senate Banking Committee voted by a margin of 10-13 not to advance Garrett's nomination to the full U.S. Senate. Republican U.S. Senators Mike Rounds and Tim Scott joined all of the Democrats on the committee in voting against Garrett.[48] Trump did not formally withdraw the nomination; rather it was returned to Trump unconfirmed on January 3, 2018, under Standing Rules of the United States Senate, Rule XXXI, paragraph 6.[49]
Personal life
Garrett is married and has two adult daughters.[50] They homeschooled their daughters because there was "no high school offering a Christian education" in their area.[51]
*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2004, Socialist Party USA candidate Gregory Pason received 574 votes. In 2010, James Radigan received 336 votes.
^Kocieniewski, David. "Forrester to Represent G.O.P. in Race to Unseat Torricelli", The New York Times, June 5, 2002. Accessed March 30, 2008. "In the Republican primary to replace Representative Marge Roukema, who is retiring from her Fifth Congressional District seat, State Assemblyman E. Scott Garrett, defeated State Senator Gerald Cardinale, whom Mrs. Roukema had endorsed. With all precincts reporting, Mr. Garrett had 46 percent, to 25 percent for Mr. Cardinale and 26 percent for Assemblyman David C. Russo."
^Carroll, Kathleen (September 30, 2005). "Garrett backs lessons on intelligent design". The Record (Bergen County). Archived from the original on March 15, 2007. Retrieved December 2, 2009. ... Garrett is calling on school boards throughout New Jersey to include lessons on intelligent design alongside evolution...
^Llorente, Elizabeth. "Group rallies against Garrett", The Record, July 21, 2006. Accessed February 10, 2016. "And recently, Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, was the only member of New Jersey's congressional delegation to vote against extending the Voting Rights Act, because he opposed a provision that called for printing ballots in languages other than English."
^"Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
