Thu. Nov 7th, 2024

Assemblyman Herb Conaway, a physician, defeated Republican Rajesh Mohan to win the House seat now held by Sen.-elect Andy Kim. (Hal Brown for New Jersey Monitor)

Voters in the 3rd Congressional District elected Assemblyman Herb Conaway (D-Burlington) to fill the seat left open after current occupant Rep. Andy Kim ran for U.S. Senate.

Conaway, a physician who chairs the Assembly’s health committee, defeated Rajesh Mohan, another physician, to claim the seat. The Associated Press called the race for Conaway at 2:28 a.m.

The 3rd District grew less competitive after congressional lines were redrawn in late 2021. It shed heavily Republican towns in Ocean County in favor of equally Democratic parts of Mercer County and more contested Monmouth County towns.

Conaway has been a member of the Assembly since 1998 and was a captain in the United States Air Force Medical Corps.

Democrats have held the 3rd District since Kim won its seat in 2018, ousting two-term incumbent Tom MacArthur amid a blue wave that left Democrats with 11 of the House delegation’s 12 seats.

The assemblyman’s victory will trigger a special convention to fill his seat in the state Legislature. Democratic county committee members in the district will select a successor to fill out the remainder of his unexpired term.

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