Former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) said national Democratic organizations are making the same “standard mistake” by not supporting Sue Altman with outside spending in her tight congressional race.
Malinowski criticized the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the House Majority PAC for not yet sending any outside funds to Altman, who is seeking to defeat Rep. Tom Kean Jr (R-Westfield) in New Jersey’s 7th congressional district. The former congressman told reporters Friday night that national Democrats should “do their job” for the sake of the party.
Malinowski’s remarks came after he spoke at a Get Out the Vote rally in support of Altman and Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown), who is running for the Senate. The former congressman, who lost to Kean in 2022, said he believes the super PACs will come to Altman’s aid in the coming weeks.
“I think they made their standard mistake of not coming in earlier,” Malinowski said. “I think they’re looking at the same polling that we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks. And my hope, based not just not purely in wishful thinking, is that they will come in for the last two weeks.”
When asked why the groups haven’t learned from what he called their “standard mistake,” Malniowski said, “Maybe it’s human nature to keep making the same mistake again and again.”
The DCCC and HMP, which have spent $85 million dedicated to winning a Democratic majority in the House, have yet to spend a single cent in the highly competitive 7th district. Kean, by contrast, has received millions in support from the GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund and has even received an infusion from Elon Musk.
Malinowski knows how it feels to be on the other side of an outside spending onslaught. In his 2022 loss to Kean, Republican PACs outspent their Democratic counterparts $6.3 million to $2.2 million. He lost that race by less than 9,000 votes, and Republicans narrowly won a House majority.
The former congressman said he thinks a handful of factors have caused the hesitancy in funding, saying the 7th is the “orphan” of regional districts.
“One disadvantage this district has always had is that it’s the New York media market,” he said. “It’s super expensive, but it’s not New York, so it doesn’t have the same patronage as some of the New York races or the California races.”
Still, he said Democrats, who are awash in money, shouldn’t be afraid of spending in the district. He pointed to a recent Monmouth University poll that showed Altman within 2 points of Kean, arguing that Republicans haven’t had much time to define Altman’s image as a candidate.
“She had to earn it,” Malinowski said of Altman. “She had to prove herself. I think she has. The data supports that. These groups need to, for the sake of the party, they need to do their job.”
Altman, for her part, has outraised Kean throughout the year, helping to close the gap.
“He’s got his own money, even though we’ve outraised him,” she said.
“We will see what happens in the subsequent weeks,” Altman told reporters. “But I think there is a very strong case to be made at, you know, hopefully, some other outside spending will come in.”
The former leader of New Jersey’s Working Families Party said much of the attention has gone to New York and California, but that she’s “looking forward” to seeing what comes of the next several weeks.
“I think there’s been a lot of chatter online,” Altman said. “There’s been a lot of chatter with different journalists about the importance of this district. And I think there’s a lot of attention in New York and California. That is always the case.”
But until money comes in from national Democrats, Malinowski knows how it feels.
“They were very sorry for the mistake they made the last time,” he said. “I know. They told me.”