Fredon Mayor John Flora declares candidacy for 5th Congressional District Run

John P. Flora, the mayor of Fredon Township, Sussex County, has announced he is running for Congress in the 5th Congressional District. Flora, a Republican, will seek the party’s nomination next June to face off against incumbent Democrat Josh Gottheimer.

Flora has spent three years on the Fredon Township Committee – and was re-elected to another term in November. He has been a member of the Fredon School Board for 10 years – nine years as president.

Flora is the second Republican to announce for the district. As things stand now, he would face Frank Pallotta, who ran unsuccessfully in the November 2020 congressional race against Gottheimer, in June 2022 primary.

‘America is slipping away from us’

“I am running because middle class people like me and my neighbors are not being represented in Congress,” Flora, the owner of beverage company, said in the press release announcing his candidacy. “Our values are not respected and slowly, but surely, the great nation that is America is slipping away from us.”

Flora is particularly concerned about the progressive left’s attempts to shape school curriculums to fit their anti-American narrative.

“Our public school students are not getting an education; they are getting an indoctrination. They are being taught to be ashamed of their country,” Flora said. “Students are not learning the skills they need to compete in the workplace and that will only weaken America.”

Flora and his wife Linda are the parents of two grown boys. He says he fears for his children’s future if the left-wing Democrats keep pushing the country toward socialism and lawlessness.

“Local governments are now condoning rioting and looting,” Flora said. “The government is showing more concern for criminals than law abiding people. I want to go to Congress and fight for respect for law-and-order and stop the virus of lawlessness that is spreading throughout the country.”

A self-employed businessman for 31 years, Flora said the progressive’s tax policies will cripple small businesses, many of which have already suffered under the pandemic lockdowns.

“America used to be a place that admired hard work,” Flora added. “Now people like Nancy Pelosi and Josh Gottheimer want to punish hard work and success. The political left is undermining the work ethic that made this nation great and that has to be reversed for our nation to prosper.”

Key issues

Flora said his campaign will focus on several key areas:

Parental Rights in Education: Parents have a right to have meaningful input into the school curriculum. What is taught in schools is not the province of education bureaucrats or teachers’ unions. Parents have a right to educational input and total curriculum transparency.

Funding follows the student: In too many communities, public education is not working. I want to give parents a right to choose a school that excels at education.

Protecting the Middle Class: With each new tax proposal and each new edict from Washington, the Middle Class suffers. The taxes and regulations that the left promotes ultimately fall on Middle Class households and workers, not the rich. I will not support a single additional regulation or tax that burdens the Middle Class.

Respect for Law and order: Our country cannot move forward to meet the challenges of the future if our communities are riddled with crime and lawlessness. Safety is a human right. Crime must be prosecuted; and criminals belong in jail.

Reduce Federal Spending and Debt. The spending by the Biden Administration has created an inflation tax levied against the Middle Class. Inflation is eating into household incomes and business profits.

Government Decentralization. Throughout the pandemic government officials have been exerting more power over individuals and businesses; power they are not entitled to. It’s time to take back control of our lives. Top-down government is to be feared. It is the government of dictators.

“The upcoming election is all about getting America back on the right course and returning power to the governed,” Flora concluded. “I’ll be fighting for hard-working, law-abiding people.”