NJ Democrats beat expectations, swipe 2 House seats from the GOP

New Jersey Democrats swept federal races Tuesday night, returning Republicans to a single-seat minority in the state’s 12-person congressional delegation for the second time under a Trump presidency.

Though Democrats were expected to perform well Tuesday, their vote totals — buoyed by an outsized lead in preelection ballots even before polls opened Tuesday — swelled beyond that expectation to flip GOP-held seats in the 2nd and 7th Congressional Districts while guarding all nine of their own.

“This is the moment we, as a district, as a state, and as a country, Democrats, independents, and Republicans, stood together and demanded better, demanded change,” said Rebecca Bennett, who ousted Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R) in the 7th District. “We are demanding an end to the vast corruption in DC, and a focus on actually solving the problems we are facing as a country.”

Bennett, a healthcare executive and former U.S. helicopter pilot, defeated Kean, a member of a storied New Jersey political dynasty and the son of the popular former governor, by a wide margin, capturing 57% of the vote to Kean’s 41%.

In South Jersey’s 2nd District, Cape May City Mayor Zack Mullock (D) pushed through traditionally Republican ground to oust four-term Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R), a former state lawmaker who was elected to the House as a Democrat in 2018 but joined the GOP a year later. Mullock won 51% of the vote, and Van Drew nabbed 48%.

“I am so humbled, I can’t believe this is happening,” Mullock told supporters. “This is all about you. I think you all know I couldn’t have done this without you. We didn’t have enough money to do it without you. This was a grassroots campaign and I cannot thank you enough.”

The Democratic victories will again leave Rep. Chris Smith (R) the state’s lone Republican representative in Congress. He took that mantle for the first time in 2019, after a similar Democratic wave drove Democrats to victory in four GOP-held seats.

Many Democrats said the wins are voters’ response to the excesses of the second Trump administration.

“If there’s anything we’re seeing in America right now, it is a wave of change going through our nation, and mark my words: Results are not in, but this is going to be one of the greatest rebukes of a sitting president in the history of the United States of America,” Sen. Cory Booker (D), who won a third full term on Tuesday, said at his victory party in Hasbrouck Heights.

Those excesses ranged from masked federal agents in unmarked cars whisking people off the street or out of churches or schools, a war of choice in Iran that has choked global energy markets and surged gas prices, and tariffs that had enflamed tensions with allies and increased Americans’ cost of living, Booker said.

Booker won 63% of the vote to Republican challenger Justin Murphy’s 35%.

Though New Jersey Republicans have privately blamed Trump for the dour political environment they faced coming into Election Day, Van Drew declined to do the same in his concession speech.

“Sometimes life is bumpy. It’s not always easy, and you have challenges before you, and you can’t blame other people for that,” he said. “I’m not going to blame Donald Trump. I’m not going to blame the speaker. I’m not going to blame anybody. I made decisions in my life, and I’m proud of them.”

It remains to be seen how the Republican Party navigates the coming weeks and months and how closely its officials align with a president roundly rejected by the state’s voters and by voters nationwide. Democrats are expected to take control of the House and Senate after Tuesday’s results.

State Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Union), a moderate who has long opposed Trump, urged his fellow Republicans to reject Trump in favor of the Republican values of yesteryear.

“No more excuses. We must return to our traditional principles and reject the hateful politics that has no place in our state,” he said in a social media post, later adding, “The voters have spoken.”

Democrats looking ahead also had to look past Trump, Booker said. Though the Democrats must pursue accountability for the Trump administration, they must also look to bridge income inequality and ensure residents have a pathway to the American dream, he said.

“The mission is bigger than him. He is not the main character of our story. The main character of our story is the American people, and the job of our generation is to redeem the dream of America,” Booker said.

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