2nd Congressional District Election Guide
The 2nd Congressional District is the southernmost in the state, covering Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties, and parts of Gloucester and Ocean. The Gloucester County communities are Clayton, Elk, Franklin, Greenwich, Harrison, Logan, Newfield, South Harrison, Swedesboro, Woolwich and part of East Greenwich. The Ocean County municipalities are Barnegat Light, Barnegat, Beach Haven, Eagleswood, Harvey Cedars, Little Egg Harbor, Long Beach, Ocean Township, Ship Bottom, Stafford, Surf City, Tuckerton and parts of Berkeley and Lacey.
Republicans have a slight edge in voter registration, about 34% versus 30% for Democrats, with nearly all the rest unaffiliated.
Democrat-turned-Republican Jeff Van Drew, in his fourth term, is the incumbent. Opposing him is Cape May Mayor Zach Mullock, who defeated three other Democrats in the primary. Also running is independent Ramon Mora Jr., who lists his address as a Vineland post office box.
Editor’s note: All candidates are being contacted for the NJ Decides 2026 voting guide. The guide includes responses from those who answered the NJ Spotlight News survey. For those who did not respond, we included information that we could find about the candidate and the candidate’s positions on each issue.
The candidates
Van Drew did not answer the questionnaire. Instead, the information below was compiled from multiple sources. Hometown: Dennis Occupation: Member of Congress Age: 73 Personal and/or professional background — Van Drew’s House website states: He is in his 4th term. Before getting elected to Congress, Congressman Van Drew previously served three terms in the New Jersey General Assembly and four terms in the New Jersey State Senate. Congressman Van Drew received his B.S. degree from Rutgers University and his D.M.D. degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He recently retired after owning and operating a dentistry practice for 30 years in South Jersey. He and his wife have two children and two grandchildren. Congressman Van Drew is a member of the House Judiciary Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. On the economy and making the cost of living more affordable: Van Dres discusses energy costs on his campaign website, saying he supports “moving into the design phase for new nuclear power at Salem and reinstating generation at Oyster Creek.” He also supports investing in new natural gas plants to maintain energy reliability and affordability. On healthcare affordability and access: Van Drew says he supported President Trump’s plan to lower prices on some medications. On the war in Iran and federal defense spending: Van Drew consistently has supported continuing the U.S. war in Iran. As recently as Sept. 16 he voted against a resolution directing Trump to stop the war or get congressional approval to continue it. He voted in July for the 2027 fiscal year National Defense Authorization Act, which would authorize $1.15 trillion in military programs. On immigration enforcement: Van Drew’s campaign website states he “fully supports President Trump’s ongoing efforts to secure our border and expedite the deportation of criminal illegal aliens from our shores.” He also voted for a $165 billion border security package, including funds to complete the southern border wall and additional money to the Department of Homeland Security for its deportation efforts. He also defended the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, saying the facility adheres to proper standards. On elections and voting: Van Drew voted for the Trump-backed SAVE Act that would make a number of voting changes, including a requirement of proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote, a mandate that states check citizenship status against a federal database and allowing for criminal penalties for election officials who register non-citizens to vote.
Mullock did not answer the questionnaire. Instead, the information below was compiled from multiple sources. Hometown: Cape May Occupation: Small business owner PGA Golf Professional 2010-2014 Personal and/or professional background — Mullock’s website states: After graduating from Mount Saint Mary’s University and earning my MBA from Saint Joseph’s University, I came back home to build my career and my family. As a former PGA professional and business owner, I learned firsthand the challenges that working people and small business owners face every day. I first ran for Mayor as a non-partisan candidate on the “Community First” slate. Now in my second term, I’ve never once raised taxes. Serving as Construction Manager for the Harriet Tubman Museum was one of the proudest moments of my career. My wife Justine and I are raising our three children—Bobby, Tallulah, and James—in Cape May. On the economy and high costs — Mullock’s website states: He will fight the largest wealth transfer in American history that takes from those most in need to give tax breaks to the richest and end no-tax giveaways to multibillion-dollar multinational companies while they avoid school taxes and road taxes. On healthcare affordability and availability — Mullock’s website states: He will support Medicare for All funded by fairer corporate taxes and a fair tax on the top 5%; expand Medicare’s power to negotiate drug prices beyond the current 10–15 products per year and expand access to mental health services for all Americans. On the Iran War and defense spending — Mullock’s website states: He will ensure defense spending focuses on strategic security needs rather than endless wars. On immigration and the current enforcement crackdown — Mullock’s website is silent on this issue. On voting and elections — Mullock’s website states: He will work to overturn Citizens United and end unlimited dark money in elections and support public financing of elections.
Hometown: Vineland Occupation: Full-Time Candidate Age: 32 Personal and/or professional background: Personal: Vineland born and Raised. Raised in low-income Section 8 housing. Where I grew up often gave pause to adults when I was young. Kids from my neighborhood were looked at as less-than and incapable of achieving or automatically up to no good because of local gangs. After Surviving my childhood and homelessness through brutal winters, I managed to graduate High-school, and then Nursing School in unstable Housing. I have since fought through a back injury that left me functionally disabled to ultimately where I am today. Professional: Prior leadership roles nearly every job held, Nursing Tech, Nursing School Graduate. What is your top issue? My top issue is affordability hands down. I have lived a life of unaffordability of basic needs. I was homeless as a teen with nothing to my name. I know what the affordability crisis the people are struggling with because I am not just FOR the people but OF the people. Life should be more than paying bills for essential needs. The people deserve to live a life not JUST work a life for a billionaire company so that THEIR executives can live THEIR lives. I have novel plans to target the affordability of our basic needs of life so that way people can not just feel like they are in survival mode but so they can afford to do more in life like starting a family and having a place to call their own. Affordability is my top issue. How would you improve the economy and make the cost of living (groceries, housing, energy, etc.) more affordable? Improve the economy by putting workers rights, safeguards, and opportunities at the forefront. When the workers are well off our economy thrives in all sectors as people have more expendable income to live life not just work one. Address the massive unemployment looming as AI Hyperscale Data centers come for our jobs. My Grocery and housing policies fight corporate monopoly practices and puts real competition in the market that the citizens of America can have real financial stake in and dramatically benefit from. Energy Cost affordability will be achieved by diverting waste fraud and abuse of taxpayer funds and military overspending. Instead of investing in a war machine we build out our infrastructure in ways we have not seen in decades What is your plan to make healthcare more affordable and accessible? Advance a Medicare for all/Single Payer system where we can get rid of the billions of dollars being wasted on middlemen insurance companies and focus that money on building out a robust medical industry where we can put American’s Health First and not profits of an insurance company first. I would also untie health insurance to employment. Investing in our country’s health is one of the most patriotic actions we can do, it’s also good for business and the longevity of a society when the people of a country are taken care of. In this kind of system people would not have to worry about co-pays, deductibles, monthly premiums, all just to be delayed or denied care. Do you support the war in Iran and federal defense spending? If not, what would you change? I do not support Israel’s war in Iran and our involvement in fighting their war. We do not have a federal defense expenditure, we have a federal offense expenditure and that has to change. We waste trillions on war, building bombs, overthrowing countries, blowing up children, and destroying countries in the name of profit. We could be doing so much more for everyone in America if we redirected even a fraction of that spending to the benefit of the people to lower their cost of living and improve their quality of life. I would redirect funding to American Defense and American Citizen Investment. What are your thoughts about current immigration enforcement policies and what, if anything, would you do differently? They are terrible to put it kindly. We have removed our humanity and walked away from the values that made America, America. We should focus on targeting a person not a people which is not what is happening. Not only that but we should be going after true threats, not the individual who has been here for decades and in everyway except paper, an American. I would Abolish ICE, Prosecute those responsible for Constitutional violations, and Replace with The American Defense Unit (ADU). We need security but we need a full reset because of this administration’s hiring practices and policies. What changes, if any, should Congress or the president make in elections (requiring voter ID, regulating mail-in voting, etc.)? The president should have no control over elections. Despite overwhelming evidence by left, right, and unbiased reporting that election fraud is not a real concern, A large portion of our country wants more security. I am all for making our elections more secure and transparent. I would sign on to requiring ID. HOWEVER and big however, the government needs to be 100% responsible for providing all documentation at no cost to citizens, provide documentation/ID’s with haste and efficiently, and do so in a 5-10 year transition period to make sure we can adequately provide the documentations without disenfranchising voters or creating obstacles to voting. I would like to see Voting be made easier, secure and well protected for the voter.
