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| New Jersey's 7th congressional district | |
|---|---|
.svg)  Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023 | |
| Representative | |
| Area | 595.03 sq mi (1,541.1 km2) |
| Distribution |
|
| Population (2024) | 789,429 |
| Median household income | $132,702[1] |
| Ethnicity |
|
| Cook PVI | EVEN[2] |
New Jersey's 7th congressional district includes all ofHunterdon andWarren Counties; and parts ofMorris,Somerset,Sussex, andUnion Counties. The district is represented byRepublicanThomas Kean Jr., who was first elected in2022, defeatingDemocratic incumbentTom Malinowski.
The district, which has become more ethnically diverse over time, is one of the most affluent congressional districts in the United States,[3] with the twelfth-highest median income in the nation.[4]
In the 2012 general election, Republican incumbentLeonard Lance held his seat against Democratic challengerUpendra J. Chivukula.[5] In the 2010 general election, Democratic challenger Ed Potosnak challenged Lance, but Lance defeated Potosnak by a margin of 59% to 41%. For the 2012 election, both Potosnak and former Edison MayorJun Choi announced their candidacies for the Democratic nomination.[6][7] Choi dropped out of the race in December 2011 after redistricting left his Edison home outside the 7th District. Potosnak dropped out of the race in January 2012 to take a position as executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, leaving a momentarily empty field for the Democratic nomination.[8]
New Jersey's 7th district and the12th district were redistricted after the 2000 census by a bipartisan panel. By consensus of the panel, the Democratic and Republican parties agreed to trade areas in the two districts to make them safer for their respective incumbents. It is likely that this tradeoff, which made New Jersey's 7th less competitive for Democrats, had an effect on the outcome of 2006 election, which was decided by approximately 3,000 votes. Areas of the former 7th district such asFranklin Township that had historically voted reliably Democratic were moved into the adjacent 12th district in order to shore up Democratic incumbentRush Holt, while reliably RepublicanMillburn was removed from the 7th, and instead split between the10th and11th districts. Additionally, heavily DemocraticPlainfield was moved from the 7th to the already Democratic-leaning6th district. Despite the redistricting, NJ-07 was still the most competitive House district in New Jersey, and was the only one considered to be in play in 2006 by political pundits.
In 2008,Mike Ferguson (who had first been elected in 2000, replacingBob Franks) did not seek another term.Linda Stender won the Democratic nomination unopposed, while Republican primary voters chose State SenatorLeonard Lance in a field of eight candidates. In thegeneral election, Lance defeated Assemblywoman Linda Stender by a margin of 25,833 votes.[9]
In the Democratic primary Malinowski prevailed with 26,059 votes and 66.8% of the vote. Jacob finished second with 7,467 votes and 19.1% of the vote.[10]
Lance won the Republican primary with 74.9%, and 24,856 votes.[10][11]
In the2018 election,Tom Malinowski,[12] formerAssistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, was considered the front runner among the Democrats challenging Republican incumbentLeonard Lance.[13][14] Malinowski was endorsed by Westfield teacher/attorney Lisa Mandelblatt and attorney Scott Salmon when they withdrew from the race in February 2018.[15][16] Other candidates in the Democratic primary included lawyer Goutam Jois;[17] and social worker Peter Jacob, who was defeated by Lance in the 2016 election.Green Party of New Jersey member Diane Moxley also announced her intent to run for the seat.[18] Lindsay Brown, a product manager at theNew York Post and a self-described progressive, ran in the Republican primary against Lance.[19]Berkeley Heights banking executive Linda Weber[20] and environmental advocate David Pringle[21] withdrew in March 2018.
During the fourth quarter of 2017, the Malinowski campaign raised $528,000 while the incumbent Lance raised $237,000. Jois raised $189,000 and Jacob raised $29,000.[14][22]
Malinowski won the seat in the election with 51.7% of the votes.
IncumbentTom Malinowski (D) ran in the Democratic party primary uncontested, winning 100% (80,334) of the vote. ChallengerThomas Kean Jr. (R) defeated Raafat Barsoom and Tom Phillips in the Republican party primary receiving 79.4% (45,395) of the vote.[23]
Incumbent Tom Malinowski (D) defeated challenger Thomas Kean Jr. (R) in the general election by 1.2 percentage points for New Jersey's 7th Congressional District on November 3, 2020. The race was expected to be competitive, with New Jersey's 7th being one of 40 seats gained by Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections.
The New Jersey Congressional Redistricting Commission altered the boundaries of the district effective January 6, 2022.[2] Although the district remains competitive, the district is more Republican than it was previously.
Incumbent Tom Malinowski (D) faced 2020 challengerThomas Kean Jr. once again in 2022. In the general election held on November 8, 2022, Kean prevailed, unseating Malinowski.[24] It was one of 18 districts that would have voted forJoe Biden in the2020 presidential election had they existed in their current configuration while being won or held by a Republican in2022.
Incumbent Republican representativeThomas Kean Jr. ran in the Republican party primary and won with 78.2% (37,623) of the vote. Democratic Challenger Sue Altman ran uncontested in the Democratic primary winning 100% (38,030) of the vote.[25]
Incumbent representativeThomas Kean Jr. (R) defeated challenger Sue Altman (D) in the general election by 5.4 percentage points for New Jersey's 7th Congressional District on November 5, 2024. The race was expected to be somewhat competitive, with New Jersey's 7th being one of 9 seats that Republicans gained in the United States House of Representatives in the 2022 midterm elections.
Democratic candidates who have announced or are considering a run in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District include Rebecca Bennett, a health care technology executive, formerUnited States Navy aviator; Michael Roth, a small business consultant and formerSmall Business Administrationadministrator in theBiden administration; Brian Varela, a small business owner; and Greg Vartan, a formerSummit Council President and current chair of the Summit Democrats, and Megan O'Rourke, an ecologist and former USDA and USAID official.
For the118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the2020 census), the district contains all or portions of six counties and 93 municipalities.[26]
Hunterdon County (24):
Morris County (12):
Somerset County (13):
Sussex County (10):
Union County (12):
Warren County (22):
| Year | Office | Results[27][28][29][30] |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | President | McCain 53% - 45% |
| 2012 | President | Romney 56% - 44% |
| 2016 | President | Trump 51% - 45% |
| 2017 | Governor | Guadagno 54% - 43% |
| 2018 | Senate | Hugin 53% - 43% |
| 2020 | President | Biden 51% - 47% |
| Senate | Booker 49.2% - 49.0% | |
| 2021 | Governor | Ciattarelli 56% - 43% |
| 2024 | President | Trump 49% - 48% |
| Senate | Bashaw 50% - 48% | |
| 2025 | Governor | Sherrill 51% - 49% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mike Ferguson (incumbent) | 162,597 | 56.9% | −1.1 | |
| Democratic | Steve Brozak | 119,081 | 41.7% | +.8 | |
| Independent | Thomas Abrams | 2,153 | .8% | N/A | |
| Independent | Matthew Williams | 2,046 | .7% | N/A | |
| Majority | 43,516 | 15.2% | |||
| Turnout | 285,877 | ||||
| Republicanhold | Swing | +1.0% | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mike Ferguson (incumbent) | 98,399 | 49.4% | −7.5 | |
| Democratic | Linda Stender | 95,454 | 48.0% | +6.3 | |
| Independent | Thomas Abrams | 3,176 | 1.6% | +.8% | |
| Libertarian | Darren Young | 2,046 | 1.0% | N/A | |
| Majority | 2,945 | 1.5% | −13.7 | ||
| Turnout | 199,075 | ||||
| Republicanhold | Swing | +6.9% | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Leonard Lance | 142,092 | 50.8% | +1.4 | |
| Democratic | Linda Stender | 116,255 | 41.6% | −6.4 | |
| Independent | Michael Hsing | 15,826 | 5.7% | N/A | |
| Independent | Dean Greco | 3,008 | 1.1% | N/A | |
| Independent | Thomas Abrams | 2,408 | .9% | −0.7 | |
| Majority | 25,837 | 9.2% | +7.7 | ||
| Turnout | 279,589 | ||||
| Republicanhold | Swing | −3.9% | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Leonard Lance (incumbent) | 104,642 | 59.4% | ||
| Democratic | Ed Potosnak | 71,486 | 40.6% | ||
| Majority | 33,156 | 18.9% | |||
| Turnout | 176,128 | ||||
| Republicanhold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Leonard Lance (incumbent) | 175,662 | 57.2% | ||
| Democratic | Upendra Chivukula | 123,057 | 40.0% | ||
| Independent | Dennis Breen | 4,518 | 1.5% | ||
| Libertarian | Patrick McKnight | 4,078 | 1.3% | ||
| Majority | 52,605 | 17.1% | |||
| Turnout | 307,315 | ||||
| Republicanhold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Leonard Lance (incumbent) | 104,287 | 59.25% | ||
| Democratic | Janice Kovach | 68,232 | 38.77% | ||
| Libertarian | Jim Gawron | 3,478 | 1.98% | ||
| Majority | 36,055 | 20.5% | |||
| Turnout | 175,997 | ||||
| Republicanhold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Leonard Lance (incumbent) | 185,850 | 54.08% | ||
| Democratic | Peter Jacob | 148,188 | 43.12% | ||
| Libertarian | Dan O'Neill | 5,343 | 1.56% | ||
| Conservative | Arthur T. Haussmann, Jr. | 4,254 | 1.24% | ||
| Majority | 37,662 | 10.96% | |||
| Turnout | 343,635 | ||||
| Republicanhold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tom Malinowski | 166,985 | 51.7 | |
| Republican | Leonard Lance (incumbent) | 150,785 | 46.7 | |
| Green | Diane Moxley | 2,676 | 0.8 | |
| Independent | Gregg Mele | 2,296 | 0.7 | |
| Total votes | 322,742 | 100.0 | ||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tom Malinowski (incumbent) | 219,688 | 50.6 | |
| Republican | Tom Kean Jr. | 214,359 | 49.4 | |
| Total votes | 434,047 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Tom Kean, Jr. | 159,392 | 51.4 | |
| Democratic | Tom Malinowski (incumbent) | 150,701 | 48.6 | |
| Total votes | 310,093 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Thomas Kean Jr. (incumbent) | 223,331 | 51.8 | |
| Democratic | Sue Altman | 200,025 | 46.4 | |
| Libertarian | Lana Leguia | 3,784 | 0.9 | |
| Green | Andrew Black | 4,258 | 1.0 | |
| Total votes | 431,398 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
Bashaw carried it 50% to 47.7%.
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