New Jersey's 7th Congressional District

New Jersey's 7th Congressional District

New Jersey's Seventh Congressional District is currently represented by Republican Leonard Lance.

In the 2008 election, Mike Ferguson (who had first been elected in 2000, replacing Bob Franks) did not seek another term. Linda Stender won the Democratic nomination unopposed, while Republican primary voters chose State Senator Leonard Lance in a field of eight candidates. In the 2008 general election, Lance defeated Assemblywoman Linda Stender by a margin of 25,833 votes and became the Congressman.

In the 2010 general election, Democratic challenger Ed Potosnak challenged Lance, but Lance defeated Potosnak by a margin of 59% to 41%. For the 2012 election, both Potosnak and former Edison Mayor Jun Choi announced their candidacies for the Democratic nomination. Choi dropped out of the race in December 2011 after redistricting left his Edison home outside the 7th District. Potosnak dropped out of the race in January 2012 to take a position as executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, leaving a momentarily empty field for the Democratic nomination.

For the 2012 general election Upendra J. Chivukula is the Democratic challenger to Republican incumbent Leonard Lance.