Congressional candidate Josh Gottheimer spoke on Wednesday in Sparta. The venue was the annual meeting of the Sussex County Association for Realtors at Perona Farms.

Both Gottheimer and incumbent CD5 Congressman Scott Garrett were invited to address the group. Garrett was a no show. That might be because the National Association of Realtors endorsed Gottheimer in his bid to replace Garrett in the Fifth Congressional District.

Garrett wasn’t there, but a handful of his supporters were. They picketed the realtors’ annual meeting carrying homemade signs.