New Jersey Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski Loses Tight Reelection Race
New Jersey Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski is projected to lose his House seat, giving Republicans a prize they had been targeting for months in their pursuit to take back the House of Representatives.
Republican rival Tom Kean Jr. defeated Malinowski in a race that both parties treated as a priority. Malinowski raised over $7 million and received support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and outside groups, while Republicans spent over $10 million to promote Kean.
Malinowski’s loss has big implications for Washington’s conversation about world affairs. As a former human rights activist and State Department official under President Barack Obama, Malinowski is one of the Democratic Party’s most influential advocates for upholding America’s stated values in its foreign policy. He has urged a tough line against Russian President Vladimir Putin and pressured fellow Democrats, most notably President Joe Biden, to demand better behavior from repressive U.S. partners like Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Discussing the Saudi government’s murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Malinowski told HuffPost last year: “We always take it upon ourselves to make the problems [the Saudis] cause go away for the sake of the relationship, when that burden really should be on them.”
Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) was first elected to the House in 2018. (Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Malinowski was first elected in 2018 as one of the many national security figures who entered politics as Democrats to combat Trump. He held on to his seat by a slim margin when Kean first ran in 2020, then faced a tougher battle this election cycle after New Jersey Democrats redrew their state’s congressional map in 2021, making the district significantly more conservative.
On economic policy, Malinowski is a clear moderate. But that didn’t stop Kean, whose father was formerly New Jersey governor, from attacking the incumbent as supportive of an allegedly extreme Democratic agenda, while Kean’s allies highlighted questions over Malinowski’s stock trades.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
