Garrett ran for re-election in 2016 as the Republican candidate, besting Michael Cino and Peter Vallorosi in the primary. He faced former Clinton administration speechwriter Josh Gottheimer, who was the sole Democrat to file for election. In an article published by the Center for Responsive Politics, Garrett was revealed to be heavily reliant on the financial sector to fund his campaign. In 2015, it was reported that Garrett stated he would not pay dues to the NRCC because they had supported openly gay candidates. Gottheimer and national Democratic groups used these comments to attack Garrett as too socially conservative for the district, while Wall Street firms that had donated to Garrett for years reduced their contributions.