Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), who is Jewish and one of Israel’s strongest defenders on Capitol Hill, was easily re-elected to a sixth term on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
The AP called the race soon at 9:12 p.m.
Running in a district redrawn after the 2020 census to be more Democratic friendly, Gottheimer raised $5.8 million through Oct. 14 and built a campaign bank account of $13.5 million.
His Republican opponent, Sean Kirrane, had problems raising money to fund a campaign. He spent almost all of the $56,322 he lent his campaign and the $47,419 he raised from others, reporting just $195 in the bank through Oct. 14.
With 31% of votes counted, Gottheimer had 67,591 votes (72.8%), ahead of 22,439 (24.2%) for Kirrane.
Gottheimer has introduced several bills to support Israel in its war with Hamas, including holding up U.S. aid to the United Nations until the global body designates Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations, as Washington has long done.
He also introduced legislation supporting Israel’s right to defend itself and requiring the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington to develop a school curriculum to teach about Oct. 7 and the role antisemitism played before, during and after the attacks.
He also sponsored legislation calling on the federal government to supply Israel with bunker-buster bombs to drop on underground Iranian nuclear sites.
Gottheimer helped push for the release of Edan Alexander, who spent 584 days in Hamas captivity and was the last living American hostage. The Alexanders live in Tenafly, N.J., in Gottheimer’s district, and a street in the borough was named for him.
“Edan is an all-American kid who could have been anyone’s son,” Gottheimer stated after Alexander was released in May 2025. “Through it all, the Alexander family never gave up hope, and neither did we.”
