The two Democrats who want to take on freshman Rep. Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) in New Jersey’s 7th district will face off in a debate on Monday, February 19 at 8 PM, six days before the Hunterdon County Democratic Convention.
The 60-minute debate between Sue Altman and Jason Blazakis is sponsored by the New Jersey Globe, On New Jersey, and the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University and will be streamed on the New Jersey Globe, On New Jersey, Facebook Live, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and YouTube.
Laura Jones, the host of “New Jersey Politics with Laura Jones,” a weekly public affairs show for MeTV-WJLP New Jersey/New York, will serve as the debate moderator. Panelists will include New Jersey Globe political reporter Joey Fox, New Jersey Globe editor David Wildstein, and Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute. Questions will also come from some members of the public.
Hunterdon is the first convention in the race to pick Kean’s general election opponent.
Altman is a former teacher and non-profit executive who gained prominence as a grassroots political activist and state director of New Jersey Working Families; Blazakis spent ten years at the U.S. Department of State as an economic sanctions counterterrorism finance expert and is a professor at Middlebury College’s Institute of International Studies.
Kean was elected to Congress in 2022, unseating two-term Democrat Tom Malinowski by three percentage points.
Joe Biden won the 7th by 3.6% in 2020, and Republican Jack Ciattarelli carried the district by 12.4% in his 2021 campaign against Gov. Phil Murphy.
The first New Jersey Senate debate between Democrats Andy Kim and Tammy Murphy will take place on Sunday, February 18, at 8 PM.
The 90-minute debate is sponsored also by the New Jersey Globe, On New Jersey, and the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University and will be streamed on the New Jersey Globe, On New Jersey, Facebook Live, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and YouTube.