Keith Kazmark, the Woodland Park mayor, ended his bid to take on Republican Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen in New Jersey's 11th congressional district by endorsing the presumed front-runner for the Democratic nomination, Mikie Sherrill of Montclair.

Kazmark, the energetic mayor from the swing town just outside of Paterson, held a mid-afternoon press conference at Dowling Park, where he gave Sherrill the thumbs up in her bid to take on Frelinghuysen.

"This is an experience that I will always value and one in which I have no regrets," Kazmark said. "I met people along the way that I believe will last a lifetime."

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Frelinghuysen is running for his 12th term and has $1 million in his war chest. Kazmark formed an exploratory committee seven weeks ago to test the political waters, but he said taking on the well-heeled incumbent would take him away from his family and his work in Woodland Park, which he says is "unfinished."

An attempt to reach Frelinghuysen's campaign Tuesday evening was unsuccessful.

The mayor then presented Sherrill, the former Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor from Montclair who has raised $250,000 for her campaign. Sherrill is the best candidate in the race and he will work to get her elected, Kazmark said.

"This may be her first run for elected office, but her record speaks for itself," Kazmark said.

After thanking Kazmark and the Woodland Park council for their support, Sherrill attacked Frelinghuysen "for refusing to stand up and defend our values" by supporting efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

"I want to put families first here in New Jersey," Sherrill said. "That means enduring all citizens have quality and affordable health care."

Although the mayor and council are all Democrats, Woodland Park is considered a political swing town. Hillary Clinton barely squeaked by Donald Trump in the presidential race, winning 3,077 to 2,943. Frelinghuysen narrowly lost Woodland Park in his 2016 reelection bid, against a relatively unknown Democrat, Joseph M. Wenzel, 2,408 to 2,361.

The 11th Congressional district covers 54 towns in Morris, Essex, Passaic and Sussex counties. And a portion of the district cuts through Montclair. Even though Sherrill lives in Montclair, she does not currently live inside the boundaries of the 11th District. She plans to move into it soon, she said. Federal law does not require a candidate to live within the district in order to run for Congress.

Although the 11th District is considered a Republican stronghold, Trump just beat Clinton in the 2016 presidential election by less than a percentage point.

Frelinghuysen fared better throughout the 11th District than Trump. He received 194,299 votes, or 58 percent of the total, to Wenzel's 130,162, or 39 percent. Two other candidates gained 3 percent of the vote.