Live Results: New Jersey midterm primaries

Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/live-results-new-jersey-midterm-primaries Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Live Results: New Jersey midterm primaries Politics Jun 2, 2026 9:00 AM EDT WASHINGTON (AP) — New Jersey voters will nominate candidates for both chambers of Congress in a state primary on Tuesday, including in one key battleground district that could decide control of the U.S. House. READ MORE: New Jersey voters look for answers about Tom Kean Jr.'s prolonged absence from Congress Republicans hold a narrow House majority but face a tough midterm environment in which the party holding the White House typically loses congressional seats. Although Republicans may see gains from mid-decade redistricting in several states and from a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling threatening Democratic-held majority-Black districts across the South, winning competitive seats like New Jersey's 7th Congressional District remains central to both parties' strategies to hold or retake the chamber. Rep. Tom Kean Jr. is running for a third term in the 7th District and is unopposed for the Republican nomination. His father, Thomas Kean Sr., served two terms as New Jersey's Republican governor in the 1980s. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. He will face the winner of a competitive Democratic primary featuring former healthcare executive Rebecca Bennett, former Small Business Administration official Michael Roth, physician Tina Shah and entrepreneur and business owner Brian Varela. Bennett leads the Democratic field in fundraising and had the most campaign funds available heading into the final stretch of the campaign. Kean's whereabouts have been a question on the campaign trail and in the halls of Congress. On April 27, he released a statement saying that he was addressing "a personal medical issue" and that he expected to return "very soon." As of Monday, he had not voted on any legislation since March 5, missing more than 100 consecutive votes. READ MORE: Why a surge of election-related websites could spell rising cyber threats for the midterms The 7th Congressional District in northern New Jersey stretches from Staten Island to the Pennsylvania border. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump narrowly carried the district in 2024, edging Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, 49.6% to 48.5%. Also on the ballot is U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, who faces no primary opposition in his bid for a third full term. The Republicans hoping to challenge him in November are physician Robert Lebovics, former Tabernacle Deputy Mayor Justin Murphy, Army veteran and former state trooper Richard Tabor and former local TV news reporter Alex Zdan. Bergen and Middlesex counties in the greater New York City area are among the most populous in the state and are important battlegrounds in both Democratic and Republican sta