Midterm results: Republican Tom Kean beats incumbent Tom Malinowski in New Jersey 7th
Misty Severi
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In his fourth attempt to represent New Jersey’s 7th District, Tom Kean Jr. emerged the victor in Tuesday night’s midterm election, defeating incumbent Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), flipping the district red after redistricting gave Republicans an advantage.
Kean Jr., the eldest son of former Gov. Tom Kean Sr. (R-NJ), attempted to defeat Malinowski in 2020 but fell 5,300 votes shy of victory. His win this time around comes as Malinowski faces a review by the House Committee on Ethics for reporting his stock trades late. The redistricting meant the district had 3% more Republicans voting in Warren, Hunterdon, and parts of Morris, Somerset, Sussex, and Union counties.
Kean Jr., who served 19 years in the New Jersey state Senate including 14 years as the chamber’s minority leader, also worked as an aide to the late GOP congressman Bob Franks and as a special assistant at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during George H.W. Bush’s administration. His platform focused on promoting American industry to open up supply chains, end wasteful spending to decrease inflation, support tax relief for the middle class, and back energy independence to lower gas prices.
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“Tom Malinowski ignored the warning of economists, listened to Nancy Pelosi, and backed billions in wasteful spending,” Kean said on his website. “Now we are all paying more. I’m running for Congress to work across the aisle to get prices down and stop the reckless spending.”
Kean’s victory helped Republicans retake the House of Representatives during the midterm elections. Republicans just needed a net gain of five seats to flip the lower chamber and one net gain to flip the Senate.