New Jersey's 7th Congressional District election, 2026

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New Jersey's 7th Congressional District
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: Pending
Primary: Pending General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in New Jersey
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Lean Republican DDHQ and The Hill: Pending Inside Elections: Tilt Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Toss-up
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
New Jersey's 7th Congressional District U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th New Jersey elections, 2026 U.S. Congress elections, 2026 U.S. Senate elections, 2026 U.S. House elections, 2026 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House raceArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House raceFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House raceOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House raceTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House raceVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House raceSubmit

All U.S. House districts, including the 7th Congressional District of New Jersey, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. To learn more about other elections on the ballot, click here.

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House New Jersey District 7

The following candidates are running in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 7 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Thomas Kean Jr. (R)
	Submit photo	Beth Ellen Adubato (D)
		Rebecca Bennett (D)
	Submit photo	Michael Garth (D)
	Submit photo	Valentina Mendoza (D)
	Submit photo	Megan O'Rourke (D)
		Michael Roth (D)
	Submit photo	Felipe Santos (D)
	Submit photo	Tina Shah (D)
		Brian Varela (D)
	Submit photo	Gregory Vartan (D)

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= 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.
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Candidate profiles

There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here. You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Thomas Kean Jr.
• Brian Varela
• Gregory Vartan
• Rebecca Bennett
• Beth Ellen Adubato
• Tina Shah
• Megan O'Rourke

Voting information

See also: Voting in New Jersey

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.

You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Beth Ellen Adubato
• Brian Varela
• Gregory Vartan
• Megan O'Rourke
• Rebecca Bennett
• Thomas Kean Jr.
• Tina Shah

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Thomas Kean Jr.	Republican Party	$1,902,209	$441,476	$1,509,020	As of June 30, 2025
Beth Ellen Adubato	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Rebecca Bennett	Democratic Party	$913,847	$241,630	$672,217	As of June 30, 2025
Michael Garth	Democratic Party	$500	$62	$438	As of June 7, 2025
Valentina Mendoza	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Megan O'Rourke	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Michael Roth	Democratic Party	$302,880	$77,637	$225,243	As of June 30, 2025
Felipe Santos	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Tina Shah	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Brian Varela	Democratic Party	$693,883	$71,857	$622,027	As of June 30, 2025
Gregory Vartan	Democratic Party	$157,021	$106,150	$78,980	As of June 30, 2025
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. *** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

• Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
• Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
• Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.
• Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: New Jersey's 7th Congressional District election, 2026
Race tracker	Race ratings
	9/16/2025	9/9/2025	9/2/2025	8/26/2025
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Lean Republican	Lean Republican	Lean Republican	Lean Republican
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Tilt Republican	Tilt Republican	Tilt Republican	Tilt Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Ballot access

This section will contain information on ballot access related to this state's elections when it is available.

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.

2024

See also: New Jersey's 7th Congressional District election, 2024

New Jersey's 7th Congressional District election, 2024 (June 4 Democratic primary)

New Jersey's 7th Congressional District election, 2024 (June 4 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House New Jersey District 7

Incumbent Thomas Kean Jr. defeated Susan Altman, Andrew Black, and Lana Leguia in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 7 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Thomas Kean Jr. (R)	51.8	223,331
		Susan Altman (D)	46.4	200,025
		Andrew Black (G)	1.0	4,258
		Lana Leguia (L)	0.9	3,784

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 431,398
= 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 7

Susan Altman advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 7 on June 4, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Susan Altman	100.0	38,030

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 38,030
= 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

• Jason Blazakis (D)
• Joseph Signorello (D)
• Gregory Vartan (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 7

Incumbent Thomas Kean Jr. defeated Roger Bacon in the Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 7 on June 4, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Thomas Kean Jr.	78.2	37,623
		Roger Bacon	21.8	10,460

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 48,083
= 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.

2022

See also: New Jersey's 7th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House New Jersey District 7

Thomas Kean Jr. defeated incumbent Tom Malinowski in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 7 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Thomas Kean Jr. (R)	51.4	159,392
		Tom Malinowski (D)	48.6	150,701

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 310,093
= 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

• Clayton Pajunas (L)
• Veronica Fernandez (Of, By, For!)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 7

Incumbent Tom Malinowski defeated Roger Bacon in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 7 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom Malinowski	94.5	37,304
		Roger Bacon	5.5	2,185

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 39,489
= 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

• Brandon Wienberg (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 7

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 7 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Thomas Kean Jr.	45.6	25,111
		Philip Rizzo	23.6	12,988
		Erik Peterson	15.4	8,493
		John P. Flora	5.5	3,051
		John Isemann	5.0	2,732
		Kevin Dorlon	4.1	2,237
	Submit photo	Sterling Schwab	0.8	429

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 55,041
= 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.

2020

See also: New Jersey's 7th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House New Jersey District 7

Incumbent Tom Malinowski defeated Thomas Kean Jr. in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 7 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom Malinowski (D)	50.6	219,629
		Thomas Kean Jr. (R)	49.4	214,318

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 433,947
= 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 7

Incumbent Tom Malinowski advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 7 on July 7, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom Malinowski	100.0	80,334

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 80,334
= 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 7

Thomas Kean Jr. defeated Raafat Barsoom and Tom Phillips in the Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 7 on July 7, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Thomas Kean Jr.	79.4	45,395
		Raafat Barsoom	10.8	6,151
		Tom Phillips	9.8	5,631

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 57,177
= 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

• Rosemary Becchi (R)
• Robert Trugman (R)
• James Barrett (R)

District analysis

This section will contain facts and figures related to this district's elections when those are available.

See also

New Jersey	2026 primaries	2026 U.S. Congress elections
New Jersey congressional delegation Voting in New Jersey New Jersey elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018	Democratic primary battlegrounds Republican primary battlegrounds U.S. Senate Democratic primaries U.S. Senate Republican primaries U.S. House Democratic primaries U.S. House Republican primaries	U.S. Congress elections U.S. Senate elections U.S. House elections Special elections Ballot access

External links

• Search Google News for this topic

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)

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