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Battleground: Midterm Voter Trends
S.E. Cupp and Bill Anderson break down the key races shaping the 2026 midterm elections and the fight for control.
NEW JERSEY - New Jersey voters head to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 3, with seats in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House on the ballot.
One of the state’s U.S. Senate seats and all 12 of its House seats are up for grabs, with Democratic Sen. Cory Booker seeking a third full term against Republican Justin Murphy.
US Senate race
On the Ballot:
Every voter in New Jersey gets a say in this race. Democratic Sen. Cory Booker is up for re-election, and he’s facing three challengers: Republican Justin Murphy, independent Veronica Fernandez and Socialist Workers Party candidate Joanne Kuniansky. The stakes go beyond New Jersey, too. Republicans control the Senate 53-45, with two independents who caucus with Democrats, meaning Democrats would need a net gain of four seats to take control.
Booker, 57, is a familiar face in New Jersey politics. He grew up in Harrington Park and went on to Stanford, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and Yale Law School. He moved to Newark, where he served on the City Council and was elected mayor in 2006, then won a special election for the Senate in 2013. He’s been re-elected twice since. In Washington, he sponsored the First Step Act, the criminal justice reform bill that’s now law, and helped secure $6.8 billion in federal funding for the Hudson Tunnel Project. This time around, he’s focused on cost of living. He’s pushing a bill called the Keep Your Pay Act that would make the first $75,000 of household income tax-free for most filers and expand the child tax credit.
Sen. Cory Booker proposes ‘Keep Your Pay Act,’ eliminating federal income tax on first $75,000
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., facing a re-election campaign in 2026, announced a new tax-cut bill, the Keep Your Pay Act, that would eliminate federal income taxes on the first $75,000 of income for most households and expand key tax credits for working families.
His Republican challenger, Justin Murphy, is a South Jersey native. He was raised in the Pinelands and now lives in Tabernacle Township. Murphy enlisted in the Navy at 17, graduated from Rowan University, and earned his law degree from Widener. He’s worked as an attorney in real estate, contracts and energy. Lowering taxes is at the top of his list, and he supports abolishing the IRS in favor of a flat tax. He’s also campaigning on parental rights and school choice, and wants to eliminate the federal Department of Education. Murphy won a four-way Republican primary in June.
Two more candidates round out the ballot. Veronica Fernandez is a 67-year-old former insurance underwriter from Long Valley in Morris County who’s running under the "End the Corruption!" banner. She’s run for Senate, Congress and the state Assembly before. She’s focused on health care, supporting Medicare for All, and on campaign finance reform. Joanne Kuniansky is a 73-year-old longtime union activist from West New York who has worked as a refinery operator, meatpacker and deli worker. She’s been a member of the Socialist Workers Party since 1977. Her platform includes a public works program paying union-scale wages and a shorter work week with no pay cut.
NJ Primary Election Results: Murphy wins GOP bid for U.S. Senate, 2 House races decided
New Jersey held primary elections on Tuesday for several major congressional races, including a Republican effort to unseat Sen. Cory Booker, and two House races in South Jersey.
US House races
On the Ballot:
Here’s a district-by-district look at who’s running in the Philadelphia area.
NJ 1st District: Norcross vs. Galdo
If you live in Camden County or the nearby parts of Burlington and Gloucester counties, this is your race. Democrats have held the seat since 1975, and it’s considered one of the party’s safest in the state.
Democrat Donald Norcross is going for a seventh term. The 67-year-old Voorhees resident first won the seat in 2014, after stints in the state Senate and Assembly. Before politics, he worked as a union electrician and spent nearly 20 years as president of the Southern New Jersey AFL-CIO. He says his focus is on the economy, workers, health care and access to reproductive care. He missed more than two months this year because of a gallbladder infection that progressed to sepsis
His challenger is Republican Damon Galdo, a 45-year-old construction superintendent from West Deptford. This is his first run as the GOP nominee, after unsuccessful bids for the nomination in 2022 and 2024. Galdo is running on affordability, pitching lower taxes, less government spending and an energy policy he says would bring down utility and gas costs. He narrowly survived a challenge to his nominating petitions to stay on the ballot.
NJ 2nd District: Van Drew vs. Mullock vs. Mora
Democrats have put this race on their list of districts to watch this year. The 2nd District covers Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties, plus parts of Gloucester and Ocean. The district has backed Donald Trump in each of the last three presidential elections, and Van Drew won by 17 points in 2024. However, earlier this month, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added NJ-2 to its list of target districts.
Republican Jeff Van Drew, 73, is seeking his fifth term. He’s a longtime dentist who served as mayor of Dennis Township, a Cape May County freeholder, and a state assemblyman and senator before heading to Congress. He won the seat as a Democrat in 2018, then switched to the Republican Party. His campaign named affordability as his top priority, pointing to his push for federal tax cuts, his fight with Atlantic City Electric over utility costs, and efforts to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
His Democratic opponent is Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock, a 40-year-old small business owner and former pro golfer. Mullock is in his second term as mayor and came out on top of a four-way Democratic primary in June. He’s running on lowering costs for families, supporting small businesses and protecting Social Security and Medicare.
Rounding out the ballot is independent Ramon Mora Jr., a 32-year-old Vineland resident who has worked as a nurse technician. He’s never held office, and his campaign is focused on affordability and transparency.
NJ primary election voter guide: What's on the ballot? What are the key races?
New Jersey voters are heading to the polls next week to cast their ballots in the state’s primary election. Here's everything you need to know about key races before Election Day.
NJ 3rd District: Conaway vs. McGuire vs. Welzer vs. Kelly
The 3rd District stretches across parts of Burlington, Mercer and Monmouth counties, and it has a crowded ballot this year with four names. Democrats have held it since Andy Kim flipped it in 2018. The 2021 redraw made it more Democratic leaning.
Democrat Herb Conaway is going for his second term after succeeding Kim, now a U.S. senator. The 63-year-old from Delran is a doctor and a lawyer who spent 25 years in the State Assembly and once ran the Burlington County Health Department. He says his priorities are the economy, health care and preserving democracy.
Republican Michael McGuire is a first-time candidate. The 47-year-old Freehold Township family law attorney served in the Marines, then joined the NYPD, where he responded on 9/11. He’s now an officer in the Navy Reserve. McGuire wants to lift the SALT deduction cap, expand the Child Tax Credit and ban members of Congress from trading stocks.
Two more candidates are also on the ballot. Green Party candidate Steven Welzer is a 76-year-old retiree from East Windsor who was the party’s pick for governor in 2013, and he’s running on election reform, cutting military spending and climate. Independent Ryan Michael Kelly is a 43-year-old educator who spent 13 years at the Department of Homeland Security and served on the Lake Como council, and he’s focused on affordability, health care and holding government accountable.
NJ 4th District: Smith vs. Peace
The 4th District, which covers parts of Monmouth and Ocean counties along the Shore, has been represented by the same Republican for more than four decades.
Republican Chris Smith, 73, of Manchester Township, was first elected to Congress in 1980 and has held the seat ever since. He’s the senior Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and has built his career around human rights, veterans, autism research and fighting human trafficking. He’s also been a vocal opponent of offshore wind projects off the Jersey coast.
Democrat Rachel Peace is taking her first shot at public office. The 34-year-old grew up in Brick, now lives in Wall Township, and runs a communications business that mostly works with nonprofits. She’s a single mom of a 5-year-old. Her campaign centers on making health care accessible and bringing down the cost of housing, groceries, energy and childcare.
The Source: Information from this article was sourced from candidates' campaign websites, the New Jersey Division of Elections and local reporting.