Hector Tavarez

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Hector Tavarez

Democratic Party

Personal

Birthplace

Hammonton, N.J.

Religion

Christian

Profession

Executive director

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

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Hector Tavarez (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District. He did not appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary on June 7, 2022.

Tavarez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Hector Tavarez was born in Hammonton, New Jersey. His career experience includes working as an executive director with the Egg Harbor Township Police Activities League and the Police Activities League of Atlantic County, and as a retired police captain.

Elections

2022

See also: New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House New Jersey District 2

Incumbent Jeff Van Drew defeated Tim Alexander, Michael Gallo, and Anthony Parisi Sanchez in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 2 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jeff Van Drew (R)	58.9	139,217
		Tim Alexander (D)	40.0	94,522
		Michael Gallo (L)	0.8	1,825
		Anthony Parisi Sanchez (Not for Sale)	0.4	920

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 236,484
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 2

Tim Alexander defeated Carolyn Rush in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 2 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tim Alexander	61.7	17,199
		Carolyn Rush	38.3	10,667

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 27,866
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Hector Tavarez (D)
• Curtis Green (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 2

Incumbent Jeff Van Drew defeated John Barker and Sean Pignatelli in the Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 2 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jeff Van Drew	86.0	35,843
		John Barker	7.7	3,217
		Sean Pignatelli	6.2	2,601

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 41,661
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Scott Hitchner (R)

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Hector Tavarez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Tavarez's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a retired Police Captain having served Egg Harbor Township, NJ for more than 25 years. In 1989 I helped found the Egg Harbor Township Police Athletic League & serve as its Executive Director. I am a husband, father, grandfather and proud American.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Access to affordable Health Care for all

• Protecting our environment through sensible but swift action

• Supporting our Police Officers while holding bad cops accountable

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Supporting and strengthening our local communities by bringing new jobs in the areas of technology and science as well as supporting our community centers and local youth programs. America is only as strong as its communities.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Elected officials need to be people who are dedicated to serving everyone and not just the people that voted for them. Dedication to the responsibility of the office you serve and the needs of everyone above yourself should be what we expect from elected officials. Elected officials should put the greater good above all. Honesty, morals, ethics, compassion, empathy and the pure hearted desire to do what is right are things that we expect from our friends, family and coworkers. We should demand no less from our elected officials.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

Whether or not a representative has previous experience in government or politics is beneficial truly depends on the individual. While there is benefit to having experience in anything one does, sometimes it depends on the nature of that experience. For example someone who has spent a lifetime serving their community, supporting our youth, doing charity work and community service, and believing in the philosophy of service before self, would posses all the attributes that would be perfect to represent their community in Congress. If a person’s experience has been centered on self-serving motives, greed, ego or simply seeking power, then their experience would not be beneficial. It’s all about the person and their make up and morals. If your intentions are true, your desire is strong and your work ethic is unrelenting you already have the qualities needed to represent your constituents.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Our greatest challenge as a nation now, but hopefully not for as long as the next decade, will be to unite us as Americans and to strive for what is best for not only all of us, but for the entire world. Partisan politics, anger, hatred, racism, conspiracy theories and false narratives can do nothing but divide us as a country. I believe as a nation we are better than this and we can get back to working together to restore the honor and pride of the greatest nation on the planet. America has always been strongest when united. One man or one party or extremists on either side cannot be allowed to tear us down for their own personal gain. We are the United States of America and I will work tirelessly to uphold the standards our nation was founded upon. United we stand, divided we fall is not just a catchphrase. As New Jersey’s next Congressman, I will fight to unite our nation through common sense policymaking, through civil negotiations, by caring for and listening to my constituents and by never putting my own personal interests above the American people’s.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

I believe congressional terms should be limited to 8 years and the election cycle should be 4 years instead of 2.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Compromise in policymaking is often necessary to get things done. Too often what can be accomplished for the good of the people never happens because one or both sides are overreaching either to combine issues in policy that have no relation to each other or to grandstand for personal gain. Even when nobly striving for perfection, delaying and preventing many great things that could be done for too long can do more harm than good. Getting even the little things done that both sides can agree on and getting them done quickly would build momentum and help the greater good. By adding just one pebble at a time, we can build mountains.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2022 Elections

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Government

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External links

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Candidate

U.S. House New Jersey District 2

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Footnotes

[show]

New Jersey's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Cory Booker (D)

Andrew Kim (D)

Representatives

District 1

Donald Norcross (D)

District 2

Jeff Van Drew (R)

District 3

Herbert Conaway (D)

District 4

Chris Smith (R)

District 5

Josh Gottheimer (D)

District 6

Frank Pallone (D)

District 7

Thomas Kean (R)

District 8

Robert Menendez (D)

District 9

Nellie Pou (D)

District 10

LaMonica McIver (D)

District 11

Mikie Sherrill (D)

District 12

Bonnie Coleman (D)

Democratic Party (11)

Republican Party (3)