All 12 of New Jersey's seats in the US House of Representatives are contested, and Republicans are hoping to win back the four seats flipped in the 2018 midterms. If the 435-member House flips to Republican control, that is considered a "referendum" on Joe Biden's first-term problems as president.
Here's a rundown of the key races in New Jersey.
3rd Congressional District: Andy Kim (D) has held the position since being elected in 2018, and is up against Bob Healey Jr. (R), who works as an executive at his family's yacht-building company, and is a former yoga instructor and punk rocker. A new congressional map of the 3rd district taking effect in 2023 will have the district lose all Ocean County towns, but gain several across Burlington, Mercer, and Monmouth counties.
5th Congressional District: Josh Gottheimer (D) is up against Frank Pallotta (R) for the second time, after beating him by just 7.6 percent in 2020. If he wins, this will be Gottheimer's fourth House term, flipping the seat to blue. The 5th district includes all of Bergen County, along with parts of Passaic, Sussex and Warren counties.
7th Congressional District: This is one of the most closely-watched races across the US, as Tom Malinowski (D) is going for a rematch with Tom Kean, Jr. (R — who almost beat him in 2020.) The 7th district includes all of Hunterdon, along with parts of Morris, Essex, Somerset, Union and Warren counties.
11th Congressional District: Former helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor Mikie Sherrill (D) flipped the district for the first time since 1982. She's up against Paul DeGroot (R), who spent 25 years working for the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office. Both candidates are focusing on abortion rights, with DeGroot having expressed he is pro-choice, and supports neither the Congressional ban nor legalization of it, according to InsiderNJ. In an interview with the Daily Record, Sherrill said she believes "the decision to have an abortion should be between a woman and her doctor."
Below is the complete list of candidates vying for seats in the Garden State's 12 districts (* denotes incumbent):
District 1:
- Claire Gustafson (R)
- Donald Norcross (D) *
- Allen Cannon
- Isaiah Fletcher
- Patricia Kline
District 2:
- Tim Alexander (D)
- Jeff Van Drew (R)*
- Michael Gallo
- Anthony Sanchez
District 3:
- Bob Healey Jr. (R)
- Andy Kim (D)*
- Christopher Russomanno
- Gregory Sobocinski
District 4:
- Matthew Jenkins (D)
- Christopher Smith (R)*
- Pam Daniels
- David Schmidt
- Hank Schroeder
District 5:
- Josh Gottheimer (D)*
- Frank Pallotta (R)
- Trevor Ferrigno
- Jeremy Marcus
- Louis Vellucci
District 6:
- Susan Kiley (R)
- Frank Pallone (D)*
- Eric Antisell
- Tara Fisher
- Inder Soni
District 7:
- Thomas Kean Jr. (R)
- Tom Malinowski (D)*
District 8:
- Marcos Arroyo (R)
- Robert Menendez (D)
- David Cook
- Dan Delaney
- Joanne Kuniansky
- Pablo Olivera
District 9:
- Bill Pascrell (D)*
- Billy Prempeh (R)
- Sean Armstrong
- Lea Sherman
District 10:
- Donald Payne Jr. (D)*
- David Pinckney (R)
- Cleaned Childress
- Cynthia Johnson
- Kendal Ludden
District 11:
- Paul DeGroot (R)
- Mikie Sherrill (D)*
- Joseph Biasco
District 12:
- Darius Mayfield (R)
- Bonnie Watson Coleman (D)*
- Lynn Genrich
Click here to follow Daily Voice Hackensack and receive free news updates.