What do John Fetterman and Ron DeSantis have in common? They both ran against Bergen County guys – New Jersey Globe | New Jersey Politics

Years before Cliffside Parks Mehmet Oz decided to seek a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania, another Bergen County man had moved to Florida and challenged Marco Rubio and Ron DeSantis in their first major campaigns.

In his first bid for Congress in 2012, Ron DeSantis faced Billy Kogut, a former three-term councilman from Wallington.

Billy Kogut was 29 when he won a Wallington Borough Council seat in 1984, on his third try. A local liquor store owner, he came with 79 votes of winning in 1981 and lost again in 1982.

He became council president after Republicans took control of the council in 1985, for the first time in decades. Kogut had a contentious relationship with the Democratic mayor, Walter Slomienski, but didnt run against him in 1986.

In 1989, Kogut sought a seat in the New Jersey State Assembly in the old 36th district, which included part of South Bergen and the City of Passaic.

He ran on a ticket with former Assemblyman Paul DiGaetano (R-Passaic).

The two Democratic incumbents easily won second terms. Louis Gill (D-Passaic) and Thomas Duch (D-Garfield) defeated DiGaetano by over 4,700 votes, with Kogut losing by about 7,100.

Still, Kogut remained popular in Wallington, where he easily won re-election to a third term in 1990.

But in 1991, despite the Republican tidal wave that followed Democratic Gov. Jim Florios $2.8 billion tax hike, Kogut was not able to win a mayoral race after Slomienski stepped down after 16 years. Democrat Walter Wargacki defeated him by about 300 votes and ten percentage points.

He did not seek re-election to the council in 1993 and later moved to Florida in the 1990s. Kogut sold real estate in Ormand Beach and ran for office.

He became a candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2004. Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martinez defeated former Rep. Bill McCollum by a 45%-41% margin, with Kogut last with 3,605 votes statewide, 0.32% of the vote, in a field of eight candidates.

After Martinez left the Senate in 2010, Kogut challenged Marco Rubio in the Republican U.S. Senate primary. He lost by 957,856 votes, 85%-9%, finishing second in a three-way race.

After Floridas congressional map was redraws in 2012 to create an open seat in the 6th district.

This was the first foray into politics for DeSantis, who joined the U.S. Navy JAG Corps after graduating Harvard Law School. He was deployed to Iraq and later worked as a federal prosecutor.

As a candidate for Congress, Kogut was one of his first opponents.

DeSantis won the Republican primary by a 39%-23% margin against State Rep. Fred Costello. Kogut, the former Wallington councilman, finished last in a field of seven candidates with 628 votes (1%).

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What do John Fetterman and Ron DeSantis have in common? They both ran against Bergen County guys - New Jersey Globe | New Jersey Politics