THE MIDTERMS MINUTE: New Jersey’s Battleground Races!

The Midterms Minute is a look at the candidates and races in battleground districts that you need to know about, shout about and support to make the biggest impact possible in the election on November 6th.

We’ve also set up The Midterms Minute H.Q., where you can view every spotlight segment we produce, every battleground race in the country, all of the Justice Democrats, Brand New Congress and Our Revolution candidates running in November, volunteer resources, and more. We hope you’ll take a moment to visit best of the left dot com midterms and dive in.

Today, we’re going to talk about the battleground races in New Jersey, where Clinton won by 14 points.

U.S. SENATE: In the Senate race, incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Menendez is up for re-election. As you may know, New Jersey is a Big Pharma state and so it’s no surprise that Menendez is facing a former biopharmaceutical executive and Republican, Bob Hugin. Hugin is attempting to distance himself from Trump, even though he was a Trump delegate who donated the maximum to Trump’s campaign and gave over $200,000 dollars to the Republican National Committee in 2016. Hugin has also been accused of paying lobbyists to keep competing drugs off the market while profiting off overpriced cancer medication. The race is tightening and is currently rated as likely Democratic. As a reminder, the Democrats must retain all ten battleground Senate seats and pick up two additional seats from Republicans to take the Senate.

Now, we move on to the House.

NJ-02: New Jersey’s second district is an open race seat, after the long term Republican incumbent decided not to run for re-election. Now, Democrat and state senator Jeff Van Drew faces Republican and attorney Seth Grossman in the general, along with one Libertarian and three Independents. Grossman, the Republican, lost the support of the National Republican Congressional Committee and was asked to step aside this summer when Media Matters reported that Grossman shared an opinion piece from a white nationalist linked website disparaging black people as “a threat to all who cross their paths.” Trump won this district by 4.4%, but Obama won here twice. The race is currently rated as likely going to the Democrat. HELP FLIP NJ-02!

NJ-03: In New Jersey’s third district, former Obama national security adviser and Democrat Andy Kim is running to unseat Republican incumbent Tom MacArthur. Trump just squeaked by with a win in this district, but polls now show Kim with a small lead over MacArthur. MacArthur was one of the all male group of congressional architects behind the horrifying Trumpcare bill which was thankfully defeated in 2017. Kim has said the Trumpcare bill is what motivated him to run for office and he has vowed not to accept corporate money. This race has recently moved from leaning Republican to a toss up. HELP FLIP NJ-03!

NJ-07: In New Jersey’s seventh district, Obama state Department Official and Democrat, Tom Malinowski, is facing Republican incumbent and self-proclaimed moderate, Leonard Lance, along with a Green Party Candidate and an Independent. Lance and the GOP machine are trying to paint Malinowski as an out of touch, DC-insider and are warping his human rights and anti-torture work by saying he “fought for terrorists’ rights.” Clinton won this district by just 1 percentage point and this race is currently rated a toss up. HELP FLIP NJ-07!

NJ-11: New Jersey’s eleventh district is another open seat race. Democrat and former federal prosecutor Mikie Sherrill faces Republican and Assemblyman Jay Webber in November. Trump barely won this district by less than a percentage point, though McCain and Romney each won here by five. In his ads, Webber is actually attempting to both defend Medicare as a great program while simultaneously calling Medicare for All a “dangerous socialized medicine scheme” that would destroy Medicare. Meanwhile, Republicans are actively trying to gut the program to pay for their corporate tax cuts. Don’t try these political acrobatics at home, folks. This race is currently rated as leaning Democratic. HELP FLIP NJ-11!

IMPORTANT DATES: If you want to vote in the New Jersey Midterm Elections you must be registered by October 16th. Absentee ballot requests must be made IN-PERSON by Monday, November 5th at 3pm and completed ballots must be received by Tuesday, November 6th at 8pm. Please note that early voting is NOT available in New Jersey.

It’s never too early to check registration cut off dates and absentee ballot request and submission dates in your own state. We highly suggest reviewing your state’s important dates and voter ID laws at rockthevote.org as soon as possible to ensure you will be able to vote in the general election.

So, if making the Blue Wave a reality in November is important to you, be sure to hit the share buttons to spread the word about supporting Democrats in battleground races across the country via social media so that others in your network can spread the word too.

THE MIDTERMS MINUTE

CONFIRM VOTER REGISTRATION: RocktheVote.org/resources/am-i-registered-to-vote/

CHECK VOTING DATES & POLICIES: RocktheVote.org/voting-information/

VOTER ID INFO/HELP: VoteRiders & 866ourvote.org

Get Involved/Resources: THE MIDTERMS MINUTE H.Q.

NEW JERSEY BATTLEGROUNDS:

New Jersey Democratic State Committee

NJ Important Dates: Registered by October 16th. Absentee ballot requests: IN-PERSON by Mon, Nov. 5th at 3pm. Ballots received by Tues., Nov. 6th at 8pm. Early voting NOT available in New Jersey. *More NJ voting details*

U.S. SENATE

Must Retain Seat: Bob Menendez (D - incumbent)

U.S. HOUSE

NJ-02: Jeff Van Drew

Swing Left NJ-02 | Red to Blue NJ-02

NJ-03: Andy Kim

Swing Left NJ-03 | Red to Blue NJ-03

NJ-07: Tom Malinowski

Swing Left NJ-07 | Red to Blue NJ-07

NJ-11: Mikie Sherrill

Swing Left NJ-11 | Red to Blue NJ-11

Posted September 28, 2018; Researched & Written by Best of the Left Communications Director, Amanda Hoffman