Democrats have surpassed their entire 2025 advance voting totals in two Republican-held congressional districts, while Republicans are struggling to match last year’s turnout as New Jersey enters its final day of in-person early voting, according to an analysis by Umichvoter of early voting on Saturday.
In the 7th district, where Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) faces Democrat Rebecca Bennett, Democrats have cast 67,135 ballots, or 104.4% of their final 2025 advance vote total of 64,286.
Republicans have cast 38,251 ballots, just 72.6% of their 2025 total of 52,680.
That gives Democrats a 28,884-vote advantage in a district Donald Trump carried by one percentage point in 2024, and Gov. Mikie Sherrill won by two points last year.
The numbers are similarly striking in the 2nd district, where Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) faces Democratic challenger Zach Mullock.
Democrats have cast 49,061 advance ballots, or 101.8% of their 2025 total of 48,170. Republicans have cast 35,199 ballots, just 77% of their 2025 total of 45,696.
That gives Democrats a 13,862-vote advantage in a South Jersey district Trump carried by more than twelve points two years ago.
Statewide, Umichvoter’s analysis shows Democrats have maintained a double-digit advantage in in-person early voting on each of the first eight days. Vote-by-mail ballots received since Thursday are not included in the tallies.
Their daily margin began at 32.1 percentage points on October 24, narrowed to 16.7 points on Thursday, and has since widened to 18.6 points on Friday and 22.5 points on Saturday.
The Saturday margin was substantially larger than the 14.8-point Democratic advantage on the corresponding day in 2025 and the 8.9-point margin in 2024.
The latest figures follow a Friday report by the New Jersey Globe, also based on Umichvoter’s analysis, showing Democrats had accumulated a 106,656-vote advantage in in-person early voting through the first seven days.
Through Friday, 246,768 Democrats and 140,112 Republicans had voted in person. Including mail-in ballots reported through Thursday, Democrats had cast 594,076 advance ballots, compared with 241,031 Republicans, a margin of 353,045 votes.
Friday’s Republican turnout was 26.5% below the corresponding day last year, while Democratic participation increased 3.1%.
New Jersey Globe
The figures reflect party registration, not votes for individual candidates. Republicans have traditionally relied more heavily on Election Day turnout, and some of the Democratic advantage could reflect voters casting ballots earlier rather than an increase in overall participation.
In-person early voting ends Sunday at 6 PM. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.