SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — All House congressional seats are on the ballot this year.
Early in-person voting has already begun in New Jersey.
New Jersey currently has 10 Democratic members of Congress and two Republicans. Nationally, Republicans need to flip just a handful of seats to reclaim the majority in the House of Representatives, but the GOP is unlikely to gain much ground in the Garden State, though some political observers see a few opportunities for Republicans to make noise in some North Jersey races, particularly NJ-07.
Below is a breakdown of the South Jersey races.
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NJ-03
In South Jersey, only one race is considered competitive by political analysts. New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District has incumbent Democrat Andy Kim facing Republican Bob Healey.
NJ-03 used to be considered extremely competitive and often flipped between Democrats and Republicans over the past few decades.
But things changed in 2020.
“The 3rd Congressional District in New Jersey looks different than it did two years ago because of redistricting,” Rowan Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship Director Ben Dworkin said.
He notes the district now includes more Democratic voters in Mercer County, giving Kim a boost.
But Kim must also overcome historic voting trends for midterm elections when the pendulum usually swings away from the party in power. That’s good for Healey.
“On top of that, you have Joe Biden who is not particularly popular, running at about a 42% approval rating, and you have high inflation,” Dworkin said. “The economy isn’t great for a lot of folks.”
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On the issue of abortion, Kim doesn’t support any restrictions.
“Bob Healey is someone that says it’s unfortunate that New Jersey has the protections that it does for women when it comes to abortion,” he said. “I disagree with him vehemently on that.”
Healey supports more limits to abortion, including exceptions for rape and life of the mother.
“I believe we can and should find compromise, somewhere around the first trimester,” Healey said.
One area where there is common ground is on immigration. Both Healey and Kim say the crisis at the border must get fixed.
“We can be for protecting our country and securing our borders, securing our nation, while also making sure that we are supportive of growing our country and having the kind of immigration that frankly the business community says we absolutely need. Businesses in my district are saying they need the workers. They want the immigration,” Kim said.
“I was not really happy to see those buses coming to other parts of the country because ultimately, these are people and we shouldn’t use people as any kind of political pawn,” Healey said. “I understand the message that’s trying to be sent; certainly the border towns have a lot of issues.”
Both candidates have been very busy attending and hosting events to engage with voters, both think that has gone very well for them so far, and they both hope to have made enough of a positive impression to win more votes than the other guy on Nov. 8.
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NJ-01
As for the three other races in South Jersey, Dworkin doesn’t anticipate much trouble for the incumbents.
In the 1st Congressional District, it’s a rematch between Democrat Rep. Donald Norcross and Republican Claire Gustafson. Norcross won by about 100,000 votes in 2020.
Norcross, a former union electrician, says he’s “fighting for jobs and opportunities for all Americans” and that he “is committed to supporting the brave men and women that protect our nation and our neighborhoods.”
Gustafson comes from a business background and hopes to create a more business-friendly environment if elected by “removing onerous regulations.” And she is in line with many other Republicans on major issues like immigration, gun control and abortion.
While pro-life, Gustafson says she does support abortion rights in the case of rape or when the life of the mother is at risk.
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NJ-02
Redistricting may have helped Andy Kim, but that came at the expense of Democrats hoping to make headway in the second and fourth districts, which are both now considered solidly Republican according to Dworkin.
In the 2nd Congressional District, former Democrat-turned-Republican Jeff Van Drew says his record speaks for itself and that he has “repeatedly voted to defend our Second Amendment, protect unborn children, and against vaccine mandates, passports, and tracking databases, against raising the debt ceiling and budgeting via continuing resolution, and against the massive tax increases and social spending in Biden’s so called ‘Build Back Better’ agenda.”
Democrat Tim Alexander is a former detective with the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office and worked for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. He says one of his top priorities is “to create good-paying jobs throughout South Jersey” and that he “strongly believes that working families deserve a living wage and that no one should have to choose between putting food on the table or paying their rent.”
And he also believes women’s health care decisions “should be made by a woman and her doctor, not politicians in Washington.”
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NJ-04
In the 4th Congressional District, Republican Chris Smith is the longest serving congressman in America, elected in 1980. Smith is pro-life and has made that a signature issue throughout his time in Congress. He has also authored nearly 50 bills that have been signed into law on a range of topics from veterans’ health care to human trafficking.
Democrat Matthew Jenkins faces an uphill climb to unseat Smith. Jenkins would like to codify Roe into federal law and protect women’s access to abortion, pass comprehensive gun reforms, expand green energy initiatives, and create a single-payer health care option for Americans to buy into if they choose.