Democratic Reps. Frank Pallone, Rob Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman represent largely Democratic districts. (Photo by New Jersey Monitor)
A group of Democratic House incumbents easily won reelection Tuesday.
Democratic Reps. Frank Pallone, Rob Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman all defeated their Republican opponents handily, the Associated Press projects. All represent largely Democratic districts and they were not expected to lose.
Pallone was again reelected in the 6th Congressional District and will begin his 19th full term in January. Pallone, 72, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, beat out his Republican opponent, Scott Felger, and three other candidates.
Menendez, 39, will again represent the state’s 8th District, a largely Hudson County district he was first elected to in 2022. He sailed to reelection Tuesday just months after his father, former Sen. Bob Menendez, was convicted of bribery and other charges in federal court. Menendez’s GOP opponent was Anthony Valdes.Â
McIver, 38, is the most recent addition to New Jersey’s House delegation, having represented the 10th Congressional District since September after winning a special election to serve the remainder of the late Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr.’s term. Payne died in April at the age of 65.Â
On Tuesday, she defeated Republican Carmen Bucco — whom she also defeated for the term she’s serving now — for the full two-year term that begins in January.
Watson Coleman, 79, was elected to her sixth term in Congress Tuesday. She ran against Republican Darius Mayfield, a repeat of the 2022 election when she secured over 60% of the vote, and two third-party candidates.
She became the first Black woman to represent New Jersey in Congress after winning in 2014.
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