Rep. Herb Conaway (D-Delran) has drawn a Republican opponent for the 2026 cycle, and she just so happens to share a name with a prominent member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet.
Linda Diane McMahon – not to be mistaken for Linda Marie McMahon, the current U.S. Secretary of Education best known for her quest to abolish her own department – launched a campaign last month for the U.S. House in the 3rd congressional district, which includes nearly all of Burlington County and parts of Mercer and Monmouth Counties. She’s the first Republican to enter the race against Conaway, a freshman Democratic congressman.
A registered nurse, McMahon has worked in the healthcare field for 25 years and served on the NJ Nurse State Practice Council. She’s spent most of her life in Burlington County, having been raised in Roebling and now living in Westampton; she has not run for elected office before.
McMahon’s website states that overdevelopment and gun rights are two of her chief policy concerns; she and her partner “are unwavering supporters of the First and Second Amendments, believing in the fundamental rights of free speech and self-defense.” McMahon is also very active on social media, frequently posting and promoting pro-Trump and anti-vaccine content.
McMahon told the New Jersey Globe that parental rights, illegal immigration, concealed carry rights, and medical freedom were her top issues; this last issue, she said, was prompted by her own experiences during Covid.
“What really drove me to do this is the rights I lost during Covid. I was forced to take a vaccine. I did not want to take a vaccine,” she said, adding that she had been injured by the vaccine. “I don’t think anybody should be forced into vaccines. I’m 100% against that.”
It’s still too early in the 2026 cycle to say whether McMahon will be a serious contender for the Republican nomination, or how local GOP power brokers will react to her candidacy; McMahon said that she’s been going out into the district and the state to work with notable conservatives like former State Sen. Ed Durr (R-Logan). The 3rd district, though, will be challenging territory for any Republican to run in next year.
Kamala Harris carried the district by a 53% to 45% spread in the 2024 presidential election, and Conaway defeated Republican physician Rajesh Mohan by a near-identical margin to win his first term in Congress. The district, previously held by now-Senator Andy Kim, was once one of the most competitive in the country, but a Democratic-drawn congressional map put in place during the 2022 cycle made it far harder for Republicans to win.
The other Linda McMahon, too, attempted to pursue a congressional career before joining Trump’s cabinet. The co-founder and former president of World Wrestling Entertainment, McMahon was the GOP’s nominee for U.S. Senate in both 2010 and 2012, losing to now-Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy; she became administrator of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term, and was confirmed as Secretary of Education for his second term earlier this month.
This story was updated at 2:52 p.m. on April 4 with comment from McMahon.
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