New Jersey's 5th Congressional District

New Jersey's 5th Congressional District

Incumbent

Josh Gottheimer

Assumed office: January 3, 2017

New Jersey's 5th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Josh Gottheimer (D).

As of the 2020 Census, New Jersey representatives represented an average of 774,541 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 733,958 residents.

Elections

• 2030
• 2028
• 2026
• 2024
• 2022
• 2020
• 2018

See also: New Jersey's 5th Congressional District election, 2030

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in New Jersey, 2028

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: New Jersey's 5th Congressional District election, 2026

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 5

Incumbent Josh Gottheimer (D), Nick Gebo (D), Chandiha Gajapathy (R), Sean Kirrane (R), and Adam Rueda (Independent) are running in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 5 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Josh Gottheimer (D)
		Nick Gebo (D)
	Submit photo	Chandiha Gajapathy (R)
		Sean Kirrane (R)
		Adam Rueda (Independent) (Write-in)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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See also: New Jersey's 5th Congressional District election, 2024

General election

General election for U.S. House New Jersey District 5

Incumbent Josh Gottheimer (D) defeated Mary Jo Guinchard (R), Beau Forte (G), James Tosone (L), and Aamir Arif (Peace Freedom Liberty Party) in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 5 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Josh Gottheimer (D)	54.6	208,359
		Mary Jo Guinchard (R)	43.3	165,287
		Beau Forte (G)	0.9	3,428
		James Tosone (L)	0.6	2,440
	Submit photo	Aamir Arif (Peace Freedom Liberty Party)	0.6	2,375

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 381,889
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Richard Siegel (Ceasefire And Justice Party)

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5

Incumbent Josh Gottheimer (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5 on June 4, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Josh Gottheimer	100.0	42,819

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 42,819
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Michael Wildes (D)

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5

Mary Jo Guinchard (R) defeated George Song (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5 on June 4, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mary Jo Guinchard	69.8	21,321
		George Song	30.2	9,238

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 30,559
= 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.

See also: New Jersey's 5th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House New Jersey District 5

Incumbent Josh Gottheimer (D) defeated Frank Pallotta (R), Jeremy Marcus (L), Trevor Ferrigno (Together We Stand), and Louis Vellucci (American Values) in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 5 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Josh Gottheimer (D)	54.7	145,559
		Frank Pallotta (R)	44.3	117,873
	Submit photo	Jeremy Marcus (L)	0.4	1,193
		Trevor Ferrigno (Together We Stand)	0.3	700
		Louis Vellucci (American Values)	0.2	618

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 265,943
= 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

• David Abrams (Stop Israel Boycotts)

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5

Incumbent Josh Gottheimer (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Josh Gottheimer	100.0	31,142

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 31,142
= 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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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5

Frank Pallotta (R) defeated Nick De Gregorio (R), Sab Skenderi (R), and Fred Schneiderman (R) (Withdrew, appeared on ballot) in the Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Frank Pallotta	50.2	16,021
	Submit photo	Nick De Gregorio	45.6	14,560
	Submit photo	Sab Skenderi	2.2	712
	Submit photo	Fred Schneiderman (Withdrew, appeared on ballot)	2.0	629

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 31,922
= 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

• Nicholas D'Agostino (R)
• Richard Franolich (R)

See also: New Jersey's 5th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House New Jersey District 5

Incumbent Josh Gottheimer (D) defeated Frank Pallotta (R) and Louis Vellucci (American Values Party) in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 5 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Josh Gottheimer (D)	53.2	225,175
		Frank Pallotta (R)	45.6	193,333
		Louis Vellucci (American Values Party)	1.2	5,128

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 423,636
= 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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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5

Incumbent Josh Gottheimer (D) defeated Arati Kreibich (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5 on July 7, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Josh Gottheimer	66.5	52,406
		Arati Kreibich	33.5	26,418

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 78,824
= 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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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5

Frank Pallotta (R) defeated John McCann (R), James Baldini (R), and Hector Castillo (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5 on July 7, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Frank Pallotta	51.7	25,834
		John McCann	32.4	16,220
	Submit photo	James Baldini	10.3	5,126
		Hector Castillo	5.6	2,814

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 49,994
= 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Robert Auth (R)
• Jon Dalrymple Jr. (R)
• Dana DiRisio (R)
• Paul Duggan (R)
• Mike Ghassali (R)

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in New Jersey, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House New Jersey District 5

Incumbent Josh Gottheimer (D) defeated John McCann (R), James Tosone (L), and Wendy Goetz (Trade, Health, Environment Party) in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 5 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Josh Gottheimer (D)	56.2	169,546
		John McCann (R)	42.5	128,255
		James Tosone (L)	0.7	2,115
	Submit photo	Wendy Goetz (Trade, Health, Environment Party)	0.6	1,907

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 301,823
= 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

Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5

Incumbent Josh Gottheimer (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Josh Gottheimer	100.0	27,486

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 27,486
= 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

Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5

John McCann (R) defeated Steve Lonegan (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 5 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John McCann	53.0	16,685
		Steve Lonegan	47.0	14,767

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 31,452
= 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.

Previous election results

2016

See also: New Jersey's 5th Congressional District election, 2016

New Jersey's 5th Congressional District was a battleground district in 2016. Josh Gottheimer (D) defeated incumbent Scott Garrett (R) and Claudio Belusic (L) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Garrett defeated Michael Cino and Peter Vallorosi in the Republican primary on June 7, 2016. Gottheimer won the November 8 election, defeating incumbent Garrett.

U.S. House, New Jersey District 5 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Josh Gottheimer	51.1%	172,587
	Republican	Scott Garrett Incumbent	46.7%	157,690
	Libertarian	Claudio Belusic	2.2%	7,424
Total Votes				337,701
Source: New Jersey Division of Elections

U.S. House, New Jersey District 5 Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Scott Garrett Incumbent	82.2%	42,179
Michael Cino	9.5%	4,884
Peter Vallorosi	8.3%	4,252
Total Votes		51,315
Source: New Jersey Division of Elections

2014

See also: New Jersey's 5th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 5th Congressional District of New Jersey held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Scott Garrett (R) defeated Roy Cho (D) and Mark Quick (For Americans) in the general election.

U.S. House, New Jersey District 5 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Scott Garrett Incumbent	55.4%	104,678
	Democratic	Roy Cho	43.3%	81,808
	For Americans	Mark Quick	1.3%	2,435
Total Votes				188,921
Source: New Jersey Division of Elections

2012

See also: New Jersey's 5th Congressional District elections, 2012

The 5th Congressional District of New Jersey held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Scott Garrett won re-election in the district.

U.S. House, New Jersey District 5 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Adam Gussen	42.7%	130,100
	Republican	Scott Garrett Incumbent	55%	167,501
	Green	Patricia Alessandrini	2.2%	6,770
Total Votes				304,371
Source: New Jersey Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010
On November 2, 2010, Scott Garrett won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Tod Theise (D), Ed Fanning (Green), Mark D. Quick (For Americans) and James Douglas Radigan (Be Determined) in the general election.

U.S. House, New Jersey District 5 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Scott Garrett incumbent	64.9%	124,030
	Democratic	Tod Theise	32.8%	62,634
	Green	Ed Fanning	1.2%	2,347
	For Americans	Mark D. Quick	0.9%	1,646
	Be Determined	James Douglas Radigan	0.2%	336
Total Votes				190,993

2008
On November 4, 2008, Scott Garrett won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Dennis Shulman (D) and Ed Fanning (G) in the general election.

U.S. House, New Jersey District 5 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Scott Garrett incumbent	55.9%	172,653
	Democratic	Dennis Shulman	42.4%	131,033
	Green	Ed Fanning	1.7%	5,321
Total Votes				309,007

2006
On November 7, 2006, Scott Garrett won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Phil Aronsohn (D) and R. Matthew Fretz (An Independent Voice) in the general election.

U.S. House, New Jersey District 5 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Scott Garrett incumbent	54.9%	112,142
	Democratic	Phil Aronsohn	43.8%	89,503
	An Independent Voice	R. Matthew Fretz	1.3%	2,597
Total Votes				204,242

2004
On November 2, 2004, Scott Garrett won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Dorothea Ann Wolfe (D), Victor Kaplan (Independent/Libertarian), Thomas A. Phelan (Independent/NJ Conservative) and Gregory Pason (Independent/Socialist Party USA) in the general election.

U.S. House, New Jersey District 5 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Scott Garrett incumbent	57.6%	171,220
	Democratic	Dorothea Ann Wolfe	41.1%	122,259
	Independent/Libertarian	Victor Kaplan	0.6%	1,857
	Independent/NJ Conservative	Thomas A. Phelan	0.5%	1,515
	Independent/Socialist Party USA	Gregory Pason	0.2%	574
Total Votes				297,425

2002
On November 5, 2002, Scott Garrett won election to the United States House. He defeated Ann Sumers (D) and Michael J. Cino (Independent/Lower Tax Independent) in the general election.

U.S. House, New Jersey District 5 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Scott Garrett	59.5%	118,881
	Democratic	Ann Sumers	38.3%	76,504
	Independent/Lower Tax Independent	Michael J. Cino	2.2%	4,466
Total Votes				199,851

2000
On November 7, 2000, Marge Roukema won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Linda A. Mercurio (D), Michael "MJ" King (I), Robert J. McCafferty (I), Ira W. Goodman (I) and Helen Hamilton (I) in the general election.

U.S. House, New Jersey District 5 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Marge Roukema incumbent	65.4%	175,546
	Democratic	Linda A. Mercurio	30.4%	81,715
	Independent	Michael "MJ" King	2%	5,329
	Independent	Robert J. McCafferty	1.5%	4,095
	Independent	Ira W. Goodman	0.5%	1,358
	Independent	Helen Hamilton	0.2%	481
Total Votes				268,524

District map

Redistricting

2020-2021

See also: Redistricting in New Jersey after the 2020 census

The New Jersey Congressional Redistricting Commission enacted a new congressional map on December 22, 2021. This map took effect for New Jersey's 2022 congressional elections. The commission voted 7-6 to approve the Democratic map proposal, with all six Democratic members and the tiebreaker, former New Jersey Supreme Court Judge John Wallace voting to approve. All six Republican members of the commission voted against the map.

How does redistricting in New Jersey work? In New Jersey, congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by two distinct politician commissions. The congressional redistricting commission comprises the following 13 members:

1. The majority and minority leaders of each chamber of the New Jersey State Legislature appoint two commissioners a piece (for a total of eight members).
2. The chairs of the state's two major political parties each appoint two members to the commission (for a total of four members). Commissioners appointed by the political parties cannot be members of Congress or congressional employees.
3. The first 12 commissioners appoint the last member. This member cannot have held public office in the state within the previous five-year period. If the first 12 commissioners cannot agree on an appointment, they must submit two names to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The court must then appoint the final commissioner.

If the congressional redistricting commission fails to reach an agreement about a redistricting plan, it must submit two plans to the state Supreme Court, which must in turn select from those two plans a final map.

The state legislative redistricting commission comprises 10 members. The chairs of the state's two major political parties each appoint five members to the commission. In the event that this commission is unable to reach an agreement about a redistricting plan, the state Supreme Court may appoint a tie-breaking member.

State law requires that state legislative districts meet the following criteria:

1. Districts must be contiguous.
2. Districts "must be as nearly compact as possible."
3. Municipalities "must be kept intact, except where otherwise required by law."

There are no such requirements in place for congressional districts.

2020

2024

2010-2011

This is the 5th Congressional District of New Jersey after the 2001 redistricting process.

See also: Redistricting in New Jersey after the 2010 census

In 2011, the New Jersey State Legislature re-drew the congressional districts based on updated population information from the 2010 census.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

2026

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is D+2. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 2 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made New Jersey's 5th the 194th most Democratic district nationally.

2024

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+4. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 4 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made New Jersey's 5th the 177th most Democratic district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 55.6%-43.2%.

2022

Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+4. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 4 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made New Jersey's 5th the 177th most Democratic district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 55.6% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 43.2%.

2018

Heading into the 2018 elections, based on results from the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+3. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 3 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made New Jersey's 5th Congressional District the 217th most Republican nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 1.09. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.09 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in New Jersey
• New Jersey's 5th Congressional District election, 2024
• New Jersey's 5th Congressional District election, 2022
• New Jersey's 5th Congressional District election, 2020
• New Jersey's 5th Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 5

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

Vacant

District 12

Bonnie Coleman (D)

Democratic Party (10)

Republican Party (3)

Vacancies (1)