DAWN BENKO / DAILY RECORD
Tom Wyka kicked off his campaign for the 11th Congressional District in front of 30 people at the Democratic headquarters in Morristown. Wyka's 4-year old son, Tyler, runs up to = give him a hug as he starts his speech.

DAWN BENKO / DAILY RECORD
Tom Wyka is pledging to return politics to the peo= ple if he is elected. Wyka will be running against incumbent Rodney Frelinghuysen, who will be looking to retain his seat for a seventh t= erm.

Parsippany Democrat opens bid for Congress

Underdog = tosses hat in ring

MARCH 29, 2006=

BY MICHAEL DAIGLE - DAILY RECORD NEWSPAPER

MORRISTOWN -- Before = more than 30 cheering invited Democrats, Parsippany Democrat Tom Wyka kicked off= his campaign for the 11th Congressional District seat held by incumbent Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-Harding, Tuesday night.

In a short speech = at county Democratic headquarters that tapped into the anger of those in the r= oom over the policies of President Bush, Wyka promised that he would, "make people feel part of the process again. To show everyone what it means to ha= ve inclusive politics, and to make people feel empowered again. No one has loc= ked the gates yet. I intend to prove that this democracy is still yours." =

Wyka, 39, an infor= mation technology project manager, is seeking his first elected office. He is a 12-year resident of Parsippany who appeared at the kickoff with his wife Be= tty and children Brielle and Tyler.

He is the lone Dem= ocrat in the race after a potential rival, Jack Hartford<= /st1:place>, of Chatham said Sunday he was planning to run for Morris County freeholder. =

Wyka said that he = is taking this step after years of increasing activity and interest in the country's politics, activity that he watched with growing frustration.

Uncomfortable dire= ction

"Over the pas= t few years, I've watched our country move in a direction that has made me very uncomfortable," he said. "I've come to the realization that I can= 't wait for that someone to come out of the blue any longer. I can't keep wait= ing for someone else to stand up. I've come to the realization that 'we are the leaders we've been waiting for.'" Wyka admitted that beating well-entrenched and well-financed Frelinghuysen, who started his campaign f= or re-election to a seventh term on Sunday, will be an uphill struggle. He challenged Frelinghuysen to a series of debates and called for limiting campaign spending in the race to $50,000.

"Funny - the = last time I checked - this was a democracy. And all I needed was votes," Wy= ka said. "To me - winning the hearts and minds of voters happens with ide= as - not just dollars."

He challenged Repu= blican voters to examine the Bush record on several issues: homeland security, the federal budget, domestic issues and the war in <= st1:place>Iraq. The federal gove= rnment should not be cutting funds for student loans while handing out tax cuts to= the oil companies which are enjoying record profits, he said.

"To my many f= riends and neighbors who proudly call themselves Republicans, your party has been hijacked by a fiscally irresponsible group that is dangerously running up o= ur national debt to over $8 trillion, and choking our budget with over $380 billion dollars of interest payments each year," Wyka said. "Our congressional leadership is out of control, and Rodney Frelinghuysen has displayed no desire or courage to stand up to his party when they are clear= ly wrong."

Health care=

Elaine Kent of Morris Plains urged Wyka to fin= d a way to fix the health care system in the county that leaves patients waiting weeks for testing and created a Medicare drug plan that no one understands.=

Michael Soriano, a= union electrician from Lake Hiawatha<= /st1:PlaceName>, said he would su= pport Wyka in an effort to stop the loss of American jobs to illegal immigrants a= nd corporate outsourcing.

To a specific ques= tion, Wyka said he would look at Bush's tax cuts, but that in a "time of war" he would call for corporate sacrifice if residents were also being asked to sacrifice.

He said that the <= /span>United States should work to ad= dress illegal immigration and job outsourcing as part of the larger economic pict= ure that called for creating higher job standards in the countries where immigr= ants came from and where American jobs were moving to.