John Herbert Adler (August 23, 1959 – April 4, 2011) was an American lawyer, politician and a member of the Democratic Party who served for one term as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 3rd congressional district from 2009 until 2011.

Only a few months after leaving the House, Adler unexpectedly died after suffering from endocarditis as a result of getting a staph infection.

Adler and his mother lost the family business, and survived off his father's Social Security benefits for widows and minors.

[6] Adler was co-sponsor of the New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act, enacted in 2006, which banned smoking in almost all public places.

[10] Adler co-sponsored legislation that strips government pensions from public employees who are convicted of or plead guilty to corruption charges.

[11] Adler co-sponsored a bill that would expand voting rights for military personnel and New Jersey citizens overseas to include state and local elections.

[16] According to a statement by Adler's office, the bill was necessary because "the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 fails to address the needs of our seniors and veterans".

[19][20][21] He did not sign a petition circulated by Iowa Republican Steve King calling for a complete repeal of the law.

[25] Adler was unopposed in the Democratic primary, and faced Republican Medford Mayor, Lockheed Martin executive, and Gulf War veteran Chris Myers.

[26] Adler held a financial advantage over his opponent through all of the race, holding a 10–1 or 5–1 funding edge over Myers for a majority of the campaign.

[28][29] Adler received a number of endorsements for the election, including those from the Teamsters, Fraternal Order of Police, National Association of Police Organizations, Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey,[30] New Jersey Environmental Federation, The Sierra Club, the Humane Society Legislative Fund, The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Health Care, and the Recreational Fishing Alliance.

Myers also benefited from two ad buys by the 501(c)(4) organization Freedom's Watch, which attacked John Adler on his tax record, his legislative history, and contributions he received from subprime mortgage companies.

New Jersey Tea Party groups said they had never heard of DeStefano until he had a strong showing in a July poll released by the Adler campaign.

[47] On October 8, 2010, the Associated Press reported, based on the details of an earlier article at CourierPostOnline.com, that there was "mounting evidence" that the Democrats recruited DeStefano.

[48] Reportedly, Steve Ayscue, the paid head of operations for CCDC, and Geoff Mackler, Adler's campaign manager, presented a plan at CCDC Headquarters during a May 26 meeting of the South Jersey Young Democrats, and some of those present soon joined in circulating a petition to place Peter DeStefano on the ballot.

Adler met his wife, Shelley (born October 4, 1959, Chicago, Illinois)[52] while at Harvard Law School.

[54] In March 2011, Adler contracted a staph infection which resulted in endocarditis, leading to emergency heart surgery.