He held on to his seat, but just barely.

First-term Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. on Tuesday narrowly edged Democratic challenger Sue Altman in New Jersey’s most hotly contested U.S. House race.

Kean claimed victory and Altman conceded defeat late Tuesday evening. As of 11:15 p.m., the Associated Press had not yet called the race.

Backed by funding from national Republicans, including a PAC started by Elon Musk, a billionaire backer of former president Donald Trump, Kean won a second term in political purple. 7th Congressional District.

By doing so, he fended off Altman’s aggressive grassroots campaign that painted him as a moderately closeted, press-shy Trump supporter.

Kean’s campaign, meanwhile, portrayed Altman as a “radical” in a steady pace of advertising and repeatedly touted his progressive bona fides; This included previous comments he made about defunding the police, for which he has since apologized.

At 10:36 p.m., Kean burst into the ballroom of the Old Mill Inn in Basking Ridge at the watch party and announced: “We won!”

A crowd of hundreds applauded him as he spoke of the urgent need to address inflation and affordability by cutting “wasteful government spending”.

He also said the country should work to secure its southern border, combat human trafficking and stand with its allies, including Israel and Ukraine.

“This is very important for the future of the world,” said Kean, who supports two countries involved in different wars. “America must continue to be a beacon of freedom and democracy around the world.”

As Kean thanked Altman for running a “spirited campaign,” his father, former Governor Thomas Kean, stood nearby, beaming, holding a bouquet of flowers.

Kean’s win was important for Republicans trying to hold on to their majority in the lower house of Congress amid a bitter campaign season and polarizing presidential race.

Reflecting the national debate, Altman made reproductive rights and the threat to democracy central themes of her campaign.

As Kean began to cruise to victory around 10:20 p.m., attendees of Altman’s watch party at the Bridgewater Mansion in Bridgewater began to quietly leave.

At 10:48 p.m., Altman conceded the race and said many Americans were “heartbroken over this amazingly beautiful country.”

“This unstable country, this divisive country, this polarized country — this country with its deeply flawed history of racism and sexism, but also its incredible hope — is a beacon for others around the world,” she said.

Altman also highlighted progressive gains in the state this year, including the elimination of the state’s decades-old primary voting design known as the “county line” and the indictment of former Sen. Robert Menendez.

Representative Andy Kim He won Tuesday night’s election, claiming the seat once held by Menendez and becoming the first U.S. senator of Korean descent from any state.

“We put together an incredible effort in this race that we should be deeply proud of,” Altman said. “We’ve turned a page in New Jersey because it’s not business as usual anymore, we picked Andy Kim tonight.”

The race has drawn national attention as both parties seek to gain control of the House of Representatives, which is currently held by Republicans.

It was also a Jersey look at the deeply divided political drama playing out across the country, with a tense presidential race and other tense fights heating up for control of Congress.

Kean, the Republican incumbent, has described himself as a moderate who still supports Trump. For him, the swing zone’s problems were clear: the economy and crime.

He was the former Republican leader of the State Senate and had the invaluable advantage of name recognition as the son of Tom Kean, a hugely popular former governor of New Jersey.

But his campaign also attracted unwanted attention. Kean had been accused of evading both the press and his constituents. recently refusing to speak to a NJ Spotlight reporter.. Video of him refusing to answer several questions while in the elevator and hallways of the US Capitol went viral.

Kean’s campaign later interviewed him to various news organizations, including NJ Advance Media.

Altman is a longtime leader of the progressive advocacy group New Jersey Working Families Alliance and a former teacher and tutor. Basketball star at Columbia University. Some remember him most for his presence dragged out A 2019 State House hearing on police tax incentives after he and others protested the anticipated hearing of Democratic powerbroker George Norcross.

Altman ran an aggressive grassroots campaign and traveled throughout the region, positioning himself as the polar opposite of Kean’s reticence. He also pressed her on reproductive rights, including abortion and in vitro fertilization, and made the threat to democracy a central theme of his campaign.

At the last minute — and after some criticism from progressives — the House Democrats’ campaign fund spent approximately 4 million dollars in the last two weeks of the season choice to strengthen it.

Meanwhile, Kean has raised about $5.4 million this cycle, according to the research group Open Secrets. National Republican groups have poured huge funds into the race on his behalf, and GOP groups have also earmarked him. about $7.7 million only about advertising.

Musk’s PAC also spent money to ensure Kean and other Republicans had enough funds for their voting efforts.

When Altman launched his campaign last year, Democrats privately questioned whether the fierce advocate was too progressive for the purple district. He told NJ Advance Media that the issue has not been brought up and that his views are largely the same as those of the Democratic Party.

The parliamentary seat oscillated between parties. For years, Republicans held it. But in 2018, Democrat Tom Malinowski ran for the open seat and won, flipping the seat blue. Kean challenged him two years later but lost a tight race.

The two faced each other again in 2022. Kean wins and bringing him back to the GOP after redistricting made it redder for him.

Democrats aimed to change the color of the district once again, hoping that the ever-polarizing Trump at the top of the Republican ticket would strengthen them.

Registered Republicans in the 7th District outnumber registered Democrats by fewer than 20,000 voters, but independent voters in the district number more than 222,000. State voter registration data.

The 7th District has a little bit of everything: rural counties in Warren and Sussex, including more than two dozen Republican-leaning towns added in 2022; deep-blue Union County towns like Rahway and Linden; and large swathes of affluent suburbs in several counties where voters of both parties may not be as friendly to Trump.