New Jersey will get at least three new members of Congress in the midterm elections, and the delegation will include at least one woman for the first time in more than a decade.
All 12 of the state's U.S. House seats will be filled as voters go to the polls from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. Tuesday. The delegation is now made up of six Republicans and six Democrats.
Some turnover is guaranteed because one member resigned this year and two others aren't seeking re-election.
The most watched of the open seats is the 3rd District, which stretches from the Philadelphia suburbs to the shore. Democrat Aimee Belgard, a Burlington County freeholder, and Republican Tom MacArthur, a former insurance executive who also served as mayor of Randolph, are vying for the seat. It's now held by Republican Jon Runyan, who is not running again.
Both parties and their supporters have a deep interest in the seat, as evidenced by the nearly $3.5 million spent in the race by independent groups. The organizations may not legally coordinate with the campaigns.
MacArthur has put $5 million of his own money into his campaign.
Central New Jersey's 12th District is sure to have a female representative next year as Republican Alieta Eck, a physician who ran for U.S. Senate last year, faces state lawmaker Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democrat. That seat is now filled by Rep. Rush Holt, a Democrat who didn't seek re-election. New Jersey has not had a woman in Congress since Marge Roukema left office in 2003.
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The 1st District, in the Philadelphia suburbs, will get a new member even before January, when most new members take office.
Democrat Donald Norcross, a union official and state senator, is running against Republican Garry Cobb, a former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker and sports broadcaster, in both a special election and the general election.
The special election is to fill the seat until January. The district was previously represented by Rob Andrews, a Democrat who resigned this year to take a job at a law firm.
Incumbents are running in the state's nine other districts.
