CLEVELAND -- Rep. Tom MacArthur is all by himself.
MacArthur (R-3rd Dist.) is the only one of the six N.J. House members attending the 2016 Republican National Convention here. The other five said they had business back home. It's his first national political convention.
"We have to win as a party," MacArthur said in an interview after a state delegation breakfast. "We need to win up and down the ticket. My view is this is where I should be to support that."
He addressed the delegation breakfast on Thursday with one message.
"If we really want to win, we have to unite," MacArthur said. "We have to elect Donald Trump and defeat Hillary Clinton."
MacArthur was elected in 2014 to succeed retiring Rep. Jon Runyan in a race where he spent $5 million of his own money.
This time around, MacArthur has raised $1.2 million in campaign donations and faces Democrat Frederick John LaVergne of Delanco, the winner of the June 7 primary who raised $600 by March 31 and missed two reporting deadlines since then. The Rothenberg & Gonzalez Political Report, a Washington-based publication that tracks congressional races, ranks the freshman as a safe bet for re-election.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is running ads trying to link House Republicans with GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has vowed to deport all 11 million unauthorized immigrants and called for banning Muslims from entering the U.S.
"Nobody's going to confuse me for Donald Trump," MacArthur said.
MacArthur said he didn't agree with everything Trump stood for but he would support him for president.
"We have a choice in November," he said. "It's either going to be Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. We need to elect Donald Trump."
Many other prominent Republicans are staying away from Cleveland, including the last two Republican presidents, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, and the last two GOP presidential nominees, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Only McCain of that group has endorsed Trump.
Meanwhile, Gov. Chris Christie was one of the first prominent Republicans to back Trump and was a finalist to be his choice for vice president. All 51 New Jersey delegates voted for Trump on Tuesday.
"I want to be with the New Jersey delegation," MacArthur said. "I want to stand with our party."
He said he wouldn't feel out of place as the only congressman from New Jersey at the convention.
"I'm getting to talk to a lot of people," MacArthur said. "I'm not lonely."
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook