After switching to the Republican Party, New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew last year famously pledged his his ‘undying support’ to then-President Donald Trump during a meeting at the White House.
But in his first year as a Republican, Van Drew opposed Trump more often than all but three members of the GOP conference, according to Congressional Quarterly’s annual vote studies.
Van Drew, R-2nd Dist., voted with Trump only 63% of the time last year. Only fellow New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist. (at 56%), and Brian Fitzpatrick, who represents nearby Bucks County, Pennsylvania, (at 50%), were Republicans who voted less often with Trump.
And Van Drew was the third most likely Republican to dissent when a majority of his party voted one way and a majority of Democrats the other way. Van Drew’s party unity score was 68%, behind only Fitzpatrick, 59%, and Smith, 65% according to CQ.
“It is surprising given Congressman Van Drew’s very public declaration of pledging his ‘undying support’ to President Trump,” said Ben Dworkin, director of Rowan University’s Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship. “It certainly helps the congressman’s repeated argument that he is more of an independent.”
Van Drew did not respond to several requests for comment.
Smith said the issues that separated he and Van Drew from the rest of the GOP were labor and the environment.
“I’m glad we’re jn solidarity, but whether I’m alone or with a large number, I vote my conscience,” Smith told NJ Advance Media.
In the 2019 AFL-CIO scorecard, Van Drew, then a Democrat, received a 100% score and Smith 76%. Fitzpatrick received 86%. They were the three Republicans with the highest favorable ratings.
Smith received an 81% on the League of Conservation Voters 2020 scorecard and Van Drew 67%. The only Republican who scored higher was — again — Fitzpatrick, with 84%.
Smith has a long history of being one of the most independent Republicans in the state, which helped him survive 2018′s blue wave that helped the Democrats capture four GOP-held seats. One switched back when Van Drew changed parties.
As a Democrat in 2019, Van Drew backed his party 82% of the time, the third lowest then as well. His break with his former party came after was he was one of only two Democrats to vote against both articles of impeachment against Trump.
Even after joining the GOP in January 2020, Van Drew continued to go his own way. He was one of only six Republicans to support outlawing logging and mining in more than 1 million federal wilderness acres in the western United States, and one of only five who supported making it easier for workers to organize.
This year, however, Van Drew joined the majority of his party and voted to reject the certified presidential election results in two battleground states, and then opposed stripping Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who backed the QAnon conspiracy theory and blamed the California wildfires on Jewish-funded space lasers, of her committee assignments.
Smith was in the minority of his party who voted to uphold the results and to punish Greene.
In previous years, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., was among the Democrats who most often broke with their party and most often supported Trump. He even faced a primary against Glen Rock Council member Arati Kreibich, who was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and a bevy of progressive organizations.
But not this time. In 2020, Gottheimer appeared on none of CQ’s lists of the Democrats most likely to break with their party and support Trump.
“As I’ve always said, the only score that matters for me is always what’s best for the 5th District of New Jersey,” Gottheimer said.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com.
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