After Sherrill's big win, Democrats eye Republican congressmembers in NJ
Source: WNYC New York, NY/Gothamist/NPR
Published Nov 19, 2025 at 6:31 a.m. ET
There’s a saying in politics: You’re never too far from the next election. Just two weeks after Democrat Mikie Sherrill’s resounding 14-point victory over Republican Jack Ciattarelli in this year’s governor’s race, her party is eyeing a few GOP seats it believes can be flipped in next year’s midterms.
Democrats’ prime target: Republican Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. He was first elected in 2022 after redistricting added 17,000 registered Republicans to the seventh district. But Sherrill won it by one point earlier this month. Now, Kean faces a growing field of well-funded challengers. And whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee is poised to have the backing of national organizations like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
“Tom Kean should be worried,” said Matthew Hale, a politics professor at Seton Hall University. “The fact that so many [Democrats] are jumping in is because they sense vulnerability, and so they're lining up to take a shot.”
Rep. Jeff Van Drew may also be vulnerable. His South Jersey seat has long been a safe Republican stronghold. However, the most recent voter data indicates a shift to the left in the region. Sherrill turned five counties in the state from red to blue – three of them were in Van Drew’s district. Days after Sherrill’s win, Van Drew told Fox Business that if his party doesn’t deal with affordability issues like rising health care costs, Republicans will get “killed” in the 2026 midterms.
Read more: https://gothamist.com/news/after-sherrills-big-win-democrats-eye-republican-congressmembers-in-nj
Van Drew should be NUMBER ONE on the list. He fooled everyone by running as a Democrat, won, and then switched parties to become a MAGat loon.
= new reply since forum marked as read
and I don't recall much of anything that he has spearheaded in Congress. Parts of his district are pink though, but I don't know how much those "horse country" constituents care as long as they can maintain a "status quo".
But that is still why I think Van Drew needs to be a serious target, considering his district had voted for him as a Democrat originally before he switched, and has been moving from red to pinkish - especially the 'burbs around the Atlantic County cities, shifting a bit further to the left, this past election, where the county itself went for Sherrill by 3% points.
(from here - https://www.newsweek.com/new-jersey-results-map-where-mikie-sherrill-won-election-10995383)