Tom Malinowski says redistricting played a big role in his 7th Congressional District loss to Tom Kean Jr.
WESTFIELD, N.J. -- It was a win for Republicans in New Jersey.
Tom Kean Jr., the son of a popular Garden State governor, narrowly defeated incumbent Democrat Rep. Tom Malinowski in the 7th Congressional District in Tuesday's election.
As CBS2's Christine Sloan reported, the district had been redrawn to favor Republicans and Malinowski says it's part of the reason why he lost.
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Kean, with his family by his side, took to the podium Tuesday night to say he had won.
"I would like to thank Tom Malinowski for his years of public service and his spirited campaign," Kean said. "A huge thank you to all of you for everything you have done."
Malinowski conceded Wednesday morning and congratulated Kean Jr., but blamed his loss on redistricting after the 2020 census.
"There's absolutely no question that we would have been winning, without question, that original district and even this district without 30,000 additional Republicans voters that were added last December," Malinowski said.
Malinowski, plagued by a stock scandal, also said Republicans pouring millions of dollars into Kean's campaign for nasty ads didn't help.
Sloan spoke to Kean right after his victory announcement.
"We took the campaign directly to the voters and talked about the issues they cared about. They're talking about inflation issues. That was their concern. Border security, energy independence," Kean said.
Districts were redrawn in townships like Scotch Plains by a commission with six Democrats and six Republicans making that decision. Democrats familiar with the process said Malinowski faced an uphill battle, Sloan reported.
"So they made one district stronger and one district weaker and Tom was the recipient of that calculation. He had no say in it," said John Wisniewski, a former state assemblyman.
"I am very happy that he is in. He has always been a good man for the community and the town and I think he'll be good," said Kean supporter Ellie Annis.
"I had more friends voting and posting than I had in the past and people understood how important this election was," Democrat Jacelyn Matthews added.
Malinowski told Sloan he doesn't know if he'll run again in two years, but that he plans on remaining in public service.
