Van Drew won’t run for Senate

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) announced today that he won’t run for the U.S. Senate in 2024 and will instead seek re-election to the House.

“I’m humbled that so many of you have asked me to run for the United States Senate,” Van Drew said in a campaign video. “For a guy from Dennis Township, it’s pretty special to be asked to run for one of the highest offices in our land. But it’s these same South Jersey values that tell me this: Do the job in Congress you were sent to do. Because God help us, there’s a lot of work in front of us.”

Shortly after incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Menendez was indicted in September, Van Drew began publicly considering a Senate campaign, and he put money behind a statewide digital ad campaign to boost his potential candidacy. But ultimately, he said that he decided there’s still too much to accomplish for South Jersey in the House.

“These are serious times, and that’s when I run into the fight, not away from it. That’s why I’ll be running for re-election for Congress,” he said. “I’m running to restore the values that made our country great. I’m running because I’m going to keep exposing the Biden family’s corruption from my seat on the Judiciary Committee. I’m running because South Jerseyans can’t risk losing our seat in Congress – all hell would break loose if Democrats ever took back control of our House.”

Van Drew himself helped Democrats take control of the House in 2018, back when he was a Democratic state senator who flipped a Republican-held House seat. But he switched parties in late 2019, becoming an ardent defender of then-President Donald Trump – and Trump announced today that Van Drew will serve as his New Jersey campaign chair for the 2024 presidential election.

With Van Drew out of the running for Senate, the Republican frontrunner remains Christine Serrano Glassner, a small-town mayor with national GOP ties. Other notable Republicans, including real estate developer Curtis Bashaw, are weighing campaigns as well.

Any of them would be a significant underdog in the general election, though; while Menendez’s poll numbers are grim, he’s unlikely to become the Democratic nominee. Instead, the two leading Democratic contenders are Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown) and First Lady Tammy Murphy, each of whom would be heavily favored to keep the seat in Democratic hands.

As for the 2nd congressional district, Van Drew’s re-election announcement likely dooms any slight Democratic hopes of flipping his seat. Four Democrats are currently running – one of whom, Joe Salerno, has more than $400,000 on-hand thanks to self-funding – but Van Drew won his 2022 race 59%-40%, and few observers expect next year’s race to be competitive.