State Sen. John Adler (D) met with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last month to discuss running against Rep. Jim Saxton (R) in the 3rd district.

The DCCC believes Saxton is vulnerable against a credible, well-funded challenger, arguing that recent local elections and demographic changes in the southwestern New Jersey seat have been favoring the Democratic Party.

“When Congressman Saxton fell in lock step with his party and out of step with his district, his seat became up for grabs,” DCCC spokeswoman Carrie James said.

Despite last year’s blue wave that swept the Democrats into power on Capitol Hill, Saxton handily defeated his Democratic challenger, beating Rich Sexton 58 percent to 41 percent. Saxton, an ardent environmentalist, was endorsed by the Sierra Club for the fourth consecutive election.

Republicans, noting that Saxton beat Adler once before, downplayed the DCCC’s claims of the Congressman’s vulnerability as pure hype. Saxton beat Adler by 19 points back in 1990.

“He has won every election with overwhelming margins and will have every resource he needs to run another successful campaign,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Julie Shutley said.

— David M. Drucker