Malinowski gains 12 more votes and now leads Kean by 4,339

A small number of additional votes in Union and Warren counties have increased Rep. Tom Malinowski’s lead by 12 votes to 4,339 against Republican Thomas Kean. Jr. in New Jersey’s 7th district.

Malinowski now leads Kean, 208,633 to 204,293, 50.5% to 49.5%.

Union County added 8 more votes for Malinowski on Friday night and 19 for Kean, while Warren tallied another 40 votes for Malinowski with Kean going up by 17.

Malinowski, a freshman Democrat who unseated five-term Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton Township) in 2018, started the day with a 5,496-vote lead over Kean.  He was in front of Kean by 28,412 votes on election night.

Kean, the minority leader of the New Jersey State Senate, picked up 551 votes in Morris, 341 in Somerset and 277 in Union Friday.

The 7th district had been held by Republicans from 1956 until Malinowski ousted Lance two years ago by 16,200 votes, 51.7% to 46.7%.