CAPE MAY − “We just won a seat that Cook [Political] reported as solidly Republican. This is a (seat) that we weren’t supposed to win and believe me, tonight, your voices are being heard,” Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock said late Tuesday night.
A completely packed, energized crowd filled The Chalfonte Hotel’s Magnolia Room to celebrate Mullock’s win is the Second Congressional District over incumbent GOP Rep. Jeff Van Drew.
“Grassroots change is acceptable, in fact it’s honorable,” Cape Island Democrat Club Chair Marie Boston said. “Zack is one of us, whether he was under the sink fixing the garbage disposal or playing ball with his kids, he’s remained one of us and has done a remarkable job.”
Gov. Mikie Sherrill spoke just before Mullock, calling his win “historic.”
“This win made my night,” Sherrill said. “I came into Congress with Jeff Van Drew and this is a full-circle moment because he came into Congress on a blue wave and he left Congress on a blue wave.” Sherrill added that Cape May County knocked on 95 percent of the democratic doors.
“You guys said enough is enough, we’re not going to tolerate a guy who says his loyalty is to the president, not to the people,” the governor said. “You wanted somebody who knew what our families are going through, who is going to take an oath to fight for all of you. You guys wanted a guy like Zack Mullock.”
Mullock took the stage to speak at 11:42 p.m. with his family waiting just offstage.
“I’ve never been shy to talk about my faith and my mother always said to me to use your God-given talents to help others,” Mullock said. “She always talked about Matthew 25, to care for the least of these, to care for the sick, to care for the hungry, to feed the hungry, to welcome the stranger. That has been the guiding light of this campaign.”
He added that the election was about something greater than the American dream.
“A dream of America, the dream of America, the dream of a country that belongs to the people,” he said. “A country that belongs to the people, a country where power is not purchased, where dignity is not reserved for the privileged, where our differences are not diminished by common humanity.”
Mullock thanked everyone who helped with his campaign, knocking on doors, writing postcards and beyond.
“They believed we’d grow tired; we’d look away, believed that we’d give in, but we didn’t,” he said. “The dream of America is still alive: it’s alive in every person who believed in this campaign. Every Republican who crossed party lines, every Democrat who refused to lose hope and every independent who joined us. I stand here and say thank you.”
Mullock said his campaign has been about decency for all and he thanked Sherrill for her support.
“There are a lot of Republicans that voted for us and what does that tell you?” Mullock said. “To me, that tells me we need major changes in this country and this campaign has been about decency for all.”
A big change from past elections
Late Tuesday night, Mullock was leading Van Drew 128,162 votes to 120,190.
In Cape May County, which had overwhelmingly voted for Van Drew over his Democratic opponents in past elections, the margin was much narrower.
Usually the big margins in the county provided a big part of the buffer to keep Van Drew in office. However, according to capemaycountyvotes.com, Van Drew won the county by less than 4,000 votes this time – 21,805 to 17,856. (Those results, from Tuesday night, are unofficial.)
Van Drew was elected to Congress in the 2018 election as a Democrat. He was a Democrat for decades, as mayor of Dennis Township, when he was elected to the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders, precursor to the Board of County Commissioners, then to the New Jersey Assembly and later to the state Senate.
He had always been a conservative Democrat, but in his second year in the House of Representatives, he made a very public switch to the Republican Party and pledged his undying loyalty to President Donald Trump.
He was re-elected by a solid margin in 2020, 2022 and 2024, especially after redistricting in New Jersey protected then-congressman and now U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, by moving more conservative voters in Ocean County into the Second District.
Van Drew appears to have been caught up with a massive blue wave across the country that has shifted control of the U.S. House and Senate to the Democrats. In New Jersey, another incumbent Republican, Tom Kean Jr., also was ousted by his Democratic opponent, Rebecca Bennett.
– STORY and PHOTOS by RACHEL SHUBIN/For the Ocean City Sentinel
Editor’s note: Sentinel staff member David Nahan contributed to this story.
