CIG Insider - Midterm Election 2018

CIG Insider – Midterm Election 2018

U.S. Senate Race
The “Blue Wave” struck New Jersey, as 3 districts shifted from red to blue, contributing to the overall Democratic control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Though Republicans expanded its majority in the Senate, New Jersey’s incumbent Bob Menendez (D) was one of the seats which remained blue.
Senator Menendez, who has held his position since 2006, successfully won his bid for a third term against challenger Bob Hugin (R).  Despite his opponent pouring more than $35 million of his own personal wealth into his campaign, Menendez won by a double-digit margin by appealing to New Jersey’s disdain for Hugin’s close relationship with President Trump.

U.S. House Races
Following the retirement of Republican Representatives – Frank LoBiondo of the 2nd District and Rodney Frelinghuysen of the 11th District – these two seats were now open to a possible Democratic shift. State Senator Jeff Van Drew (D), defeated Seth Grossman (R), a pro-Trump former Atlantic City Councilman and Atlantic County Freeholder. The popular Democrat won by a 6 percentage points in a historically-reliable GOP district.
In the 11th, Democratic candidate Mikie Sherrill, a former federal prosecutor and U.S. Navy Pilot, easily defeated Republican Jay Webber, a lawyer and member of the State General Assembly. While a Democrat has not held the seat since 1980, final results showed that Sherrill carried the district by more than 12 percentage points.
In the 3rd District, a winner has yet to declared as Andy Kim (D), a former White House national security official, mounted an unexpected challenge to incumbent
Tom MacArthur (R). MacArthur has held the position since 2014 but Kim, who is popular among young voters especially in Burlington County, is trailing the polls by just 1 percentage point, as mail-in ballots are still being counted from that same county.
In the 4th District, incumbent Chris Smith (R), who has held the seat since 1981, was expected to win despite a spirited challenge from Josh Welle (D), a Navy veteran who raised over $1 million for his campaign.
In the 5th District, Josh Gottheimer (D) was expected to be one of New Jersey’s most vulnerable House members.  The Democrat scored an upset victory in 2016 in a solid Republican district.  No viable challenge materialized, however, and Gottheimer coasted to victory over former Cresskill Councilman John McCann (R) by more than a dozen points.
In the 7th District, Leonard Lance (R) who has held the 7th District seat since 2009, faced significant opposition from challenger Tom Malinowski (D), a former diplomat who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor under President Obama. While initial polls showed an even race, it was Malinowski who emerged as the surprising victor by a slim 2 point advantage.
Notably, Donald Norcross (D) will remain in his seat for the 1st District; Frank Pallone Jr. (D) easily won reelection in the 6th District and will play a significant leadership role for Democrats in the next Congress; Albio Sires (D) will return to the House for another term representing the 8th District; Bill Pascrell Jr. handily won another term in New Jersey’s 9th District; Donald Payne Jr. (D) won by nearly a 9-1 margin in his reelection bid in the 10th District; and, Bonnie Watson Coleman (D), the widely popular and only woman representative in NJ’s congressional delegation, until Sherrill’s victory yesterday, easily bested her opponent in their 12th District contest.

 

From our DC-affiliate Washington Strategic Consulting, click here to learn more about yesterday’s national election results and the backgrounds of the three new Representatives-Elect for New Jersey.