Politics

Republican Rep Jeff Van Drew Defends New Jersey Second Congressional District Seat

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Republican New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who switched party affiliations and voted against President Donald Trump’s impeachment has won another term in New Jersey’s Second Congressional District.

The Associated Press called the race for Van Drew Friday over Democratic congressional candidate Amy Kennedy. The majority of polls showed Kennedy leading Van Drew headed into the election, according to Five Thirty Eight.

Van Drew gathered 51.5% of the vote and Kennedy had 46.9% when the AP called the race, The New York Times reported.

AP calls #NJ02 for party-switching Rep. Jeff Van Drew. Big win for Republicans, helped by Trump coattails.

Candidly, didn’t see this one coming.

— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) November 6, 2020

New Jersey’s Second Congressional District was the last race to get called and two of the state’s districts had Republican winners, The New York Times reported. Van Drew, who received President Donald Trump’s endorsement, won the primary against Republican congressional candidate Robert Patterson, according to another New York Times report.

Van Drew switched from being a Democrat to a Republican in December 2019 and was one of three Democrats that voted against Trump’s impeachment.

“I would like to thank President Trump as well as all of the Republican, Democrat, and Independent voters who stood with me and continued to place their trust in me to fight for them and all of South Jersey in Washington,” Van Drew said in a statement.

“The United States of America is an exceptional nation and I will continue to work with anyone willing to put party aside to fight for a Strong America and a Strong South Jersey,” Van Drew said.

Kennedy’s campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Editor’s note: This post has been updated to reflect Rep. Van Drew’s statement.