New Jersey Midterm Primer: Kean–Malinowski CD 7 Race Among Nation’s Most-Watched Contests
FORKED RIVER, N.J.—Democrats currently hold 10 of New Jersey’s 12 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives but Republicans believe they have a good shot at sending at least two of those incumbents home this fall.
Overall, 11 sitting congressional representatives are seeking reelection on New Jersey’s Nov. 8 ballot following the June 7 primaries, where many faced interparty rivals but few were truly challenged.
That general election slate features nine incumbent Democrats and two Republicans, including Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.), who is the longest-serving U.S. House member in state history. Smith, 69, is expected to cruise past Democratic challenger Matthew Jenkins to secure his 22nd term representing the 4th Congressional District (CD) in November.
The only open seat in the state’s 12-member congressional delegation is in CD 8, where U.S. Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.J.) is retiring after representing the urban district across the Hudson from Manhattan since 2006. Port Authority Commissioner Robert Menendez Jr., the son of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), is projected to dispatch Republican challenger Marcus Arroyo in the deep-blue district.
The most compelling New Jersey congressional races are projected to be in CD 7 and CD 3, where incumbent Democrats face robustly financed Republicans boosted by post-census redistricting and growing numbers of Republican voters.
The New Jersey congressional race drawing the most national attention, and one where the GOP challenger is actually favored to defeat an incumbent Democrat, is in the 7th District.
CD 7 is represented by Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), who was first elected in 2018, defeating incumbent Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.) and then winning reelection in 2020 by edging Republican Thomas Kean Jr. by 5,329 votes, or less than 1 percent.
Kean, the grandson of former U.S. Rep. Robert Kean (R-N.J.) and son of former Republican Gov. Thomas Kean Sr., defeated six rivals to win
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