Rep. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon) has barely been in Congress for two months, but she’s already being targeted for defeat in 2026.
The National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) today unveiled its initial list of 26 Democratic-held seats Republicans will be aiming to flip next year, and Pou’s 9th congressional district is on the list. Pou’s district, held by Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) until his death last year, was once safely Democratic, but it was unexpectedly carried by Donald Trump 49% to 48% in the 2024 presidential election.
“Radical Democrat Nellie Pou has repeatedly put criminals and illegal immigrants ahead of her constituents, pushed radical gender ideology on kids, and voted to make life even more expensive for New Jerseyans,” NRCC spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole said in a statement. “Out-of-touch Pou is far too extreme for the Garden State, and New Jersey voters won’t be sending her back to Congress as a result.”
It’s been clear for a while that Pou’s first re-election fight would be an intense one. A longtime former state legislator and the first Latina to represent New Jersey in Congress, Pou has already come under fire from the GOP for her votes against bills like the Laken Riley Act, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) added her to its frontline members list earlier this month.
Billy Prempeh, an avowedly pro-Trump Republican who lost to Pou 51% to 46% last year, is running again, though some Republicans have signaled interest in recruiting an alternate candidate with more proven fundraising ability. If Prempeh were to win the primary, it would be his fourth straight time as the GOP nominee for the 9th district, after prior runs against Pascrell in 2020 and 2022.
Pou, meanwhile, is in the process of preparing for the first expensive, hotly contested race of her political career. “I know that the Republicans have absolutely targeted the district, so I want to make sure that we are prepared and have the resources needed,” she told the New Jersey Globe after being added to the DCCC’s list. “I will continue to work super hard to make sure that my district is well-represented.”
Pou’s district was one of several New Jersey seats that swung hard towards Republicans in 2024; Reps. Herb Conaway (D-Delran), Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly), Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), and Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) all now represent districts that Kamala Harris won by single digits. But although Republicans have run a smattering of attack ads against Gottheimer, none of the four Democrats is on the NRCC’s main target list (nor are they on the DCCC’s frontline list).
On the other side of the aisle, meanwhile, the widespread assumption is that Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), who holds a seat Trump won by just over one percentage point in 2024, will be the top Democratic target next year; two serious Democratic candidates, former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett and former Summit Councilman Greg Vartan, are already in the race.