Kean keeps competitive New Jersey House seat in Republican hands

Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. (R) will win reelection in New Jersey’s only competitive House district, Decision Desk HQ projects. 

Kean defeated Democrat Sue Altman for a second term representing New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District. The son of former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean (R), Kean Jr. will serve a second two-year term in the House. 

The district has mostly been represented by Republicans for decades but elected Democrat Tom Malinowski in 2018 and 2020. Kean lost to Malinowski in 2020 but won a rematch in 2022. 

Both DDHQ and the Cook Political Report rated the race as “lean Republican,” but Democrats had eyed it as a possible pickup opportunity in their quest to win back a majority in the House.

Much of the rest of the state is made up of solidly blue House districts, but there are two comfortably Republican areas as well.