Pallone defeats two primary foes for 20th term in NJ-6

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) has defeated two underdog Democratic primary challengers on his way to a 20th term in Congress, the New Jersey Globe projects.

As of 10:07 p.m. and with around four-fifths of the vote reporting, Pallone has 67% of the vote to climate change activist John Hsu’s 26% and investment analyst Katie Bansil’s 8%.

Pallone was first elected to Congress in 1988, winning what was then numbered as the 3rd district after Rep. James Howard (D-Spring Lake Heights) died in office. A number of foes on both the Republican and Democratic sides of the aisle have made efforts to unseat him over the years, but the congressman has proven resilient.

This year, it was Hsu and Bansil who took up the mantle against Pallone, both saying the district needed someone fresher and more left-wing than the progressive 74-year-old congressman. It wasn’t Hsu’s first time tangling with Pallone; Pallone won their first matchup in 2024 by an 84%-16% margin, and Hsu had previously planned to run in 2020 but dropped out long before the primary.

(The fact that Pallone is earning a much reduced share of the vote tonight compared to past primaries is an interesting datapoint, one that could signal a certain level of disenchantment among Democratic primary voters with their longtime representatives, though Pallone clearly still remains broadly popular.)

In November, Pallone will face Hillary Herzig, a first-time candidate who had the GOP primary to herself. Republicans haven’t been able to unseat Pallone even in good years for their party, and it’s unlikely 2026, which is shaping up to be a Democratic-leaning cycle, will change that.

If Democrats retake control of the House, Pallone is in line to once again chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the powerful body he previously led from 2019 to 2023. After the 2024 elections, House Democrats ousted a number of older committee chairs in favor of newer members, but Pallone was never under threat of losing his perch.

Thanks to retirements, Pallone also stands to move forward in the House seniority roster, from sixth to at least fourth; tied for first is his longtime congressional neighbor, Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester).