Rematch of sorts in NJ's 2nd Congressional District
The midterm elections are next Tuesday, which means candidates across the region are in the final stretch.
In New Jersey's Second Congressional District, the sitting congressman is running against the son of the man he replaced.
Atlantic City attorney Bill Hughes Jr. says it was a talk with his wife about New Jersey's future that made him get into race for the Second Congressional District.
But also at play is the past.
The 47-year old father of three is running for the same seat his father, Bill Hughes Sr., held for 20 years until he retired in 1995.
The Democrat bills his father as a bipartisan leader who got things done. He says Republican Frank LoBiondo, who took his dad's seat and has held it since then, doesn't meet that standard.
Hughes says, "When I'm seeing a person saying 'I'm bipartisan,' well talk is cheap. People are talking one way and walking another."
The 68-year-old LoBiondo says he's earned South Jersey voters real access. Ask him about Ebola or ISIS and he reminds you he sits on the powerful International Relations Committee and gets classified briefings.
And he points to his fight against the GOP for funds after Hurricane Sandy as proof he's not a party yes man.
LoBiondo says, "Leadership doesn't stop me from breaking ranks, as I think most of my constituents know."
The Second District is large and includes Sandy ravaged coastal towns and struggling Atlantic City.
But the candidates are very similar: both would fight for more Sandy funds; both would diversify AC beyond gaming; and both call the Affordable Care Act a problem law that needs to be overhauled.
So the race, which polls have favoring LoBiondo, may well come down to the men themselves.
Hughes says, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different result."
LoBiondo tells us, "I believe I've gotten the results. I have lots of experience and I have the passion to get the job done."
We'll see if voters prefer what they know or something new.
