Polls are open in New Jersey for Election Day 2026

Polls are open until 8 p.m. in New Jersey as Garden State voters decide whether to reelect U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and cast ballots in all 12 of our House races.

Booker, a Democrat who is expected to seek the White House in 2028, is running for a third full term in the Senate against Republican Justin Murphy, who has lagged in the fundraising race against Booker to such an extreme that Murphy has made a regular joke of it.

On the campaign trail, candidates have discussed AI and data center regulation, immigration enforcement, housing affordability, healthcare costs, and more.

Democrats hoping to seize control of Congress have their eyes set on the 7th District, where incumbent Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R) is seeking a third term against former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett (D).

But Democrats are also making a late push in the 2nd District, where Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R) faces a challenge from Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock (D). Van Drew flipped the district for Democrats in 2018 when he was still in the party, but he switched to Republican in 2020.

Change is certain in the 12th District, which is represented now by retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D). Plastic surgeon Adam Hamawy is the Democratic nominee to succeed her, and his GOP challenger is Gregg Mele.

Other notable races are in the 10th District, where Rep. LaMonica McIver (D) is seeking reelection against Republican Carmen Bucco as McIver also faces a federal trial for assault charges related to a 2025 melee outside Newark migrant jail Delaney Hall, and in the 11th District, where Rep. Analilia Mejia (D) is on the ballot for the fourth time in nine months against Republican challenger Joe Hathaway, a councilman in Randolph. Mejia won a special primary in February and a special election in April to fill a vacancy in the 11th District and is running this time for the two-year term that begins in January.

Also on the ballot are Rep. Donald Norcross (D), who is being challenged in the 1st District by Republican Damon Galdo; Rep. Herb Conaway (D) and GOP challenger Michael McGuire in the 3rd District; Rep. Chris Smith (R), one of the nation’s longest-serving members of Congress, and Democratic challenger Rachel Peace in the 4th District; Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D) and Sean Kirrane (R) in the 5th District; Rep. Frank Pallone (D) and Hillary Herzig (R) in the 6th District; and Rep. Nellie Pou (D) and Clifton Councilwoman Rosie Pino in the 9th District.

Rep. Rob Menendez (D) has no GOP challenger in the 8th District, though he has three third-party challengers.