Meet the South Jersey Democrats competing on Tuesday to face Trump loyalist Jeff Van Drew

South Jersey Democrats in the sprawling 2nd Congressional District will decide on Tuesday who should face U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew in this year’s midterms.

Van Drew was elected as Democrat in 2018 before switching parties and vowing his loyalty to President Donald Trump just one year later and has comfortably held onto his seat.

The South Jersey district stretches from parts of the Philadelphia suburbs across farmland, shore towns, and Atlantic City casinos. The Republican has won by double digits the last two elections and the closest a Democrat has gotten to beating him was in 2020 when Amy Kennedy fell nearly 6 points behind him.

Republicans have a small advantage in voter registrations over Democrats in the district, and the biggest voter group is unaffiliated voters. The district was one of just two in the state to vote for Republican Jack Ciattarelli in last year’s gubernatorial race, according to New Jersey Globe, and favored Trump the past two presidential cycles.

The Democratic primary field has four candidates: Timothy Alexander, a civil rights attorney and previous nominee; Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock; grassroots candidate Terri Reese; and Bayly Winder, a district newcomer who has raised the most money.

Mullock, the second-highest fundraiser, had a public back-and-forth with Winder earlier this month. Winder called Mullock a “country club candidate that has a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio,” and Mullock accused Winder of being dishonest about a ballot challenge against Reese, which appeared to be tied to Winder’s campaign manager despite the candidate denying any involvement.

“Imagine moving somewhere, immediately filing to run and then attacking local democrats,” Mullock said in a Facebook post.

Tensions have only escalated since. Alexander, Mullock, and Reese said they would support each other in the general election, but Alexander and Reese have explicitly said they would not endorse Winder. Winder said he would support whoever the nominee is.

National Democrats aren’t eyeing the race as seriously as they are in some more competitive districts, but local Democrats increasingly believe this year is their best shot at beating Van Drew as part of an anticipated blue wave.

Here’s what to know about the four candidates vying to face Van Drew.

Alexander, 60, is a civil rights attorney and former police officer. He lost the general election to Van Drew as the Democratic nominee in 2022 by nearly 19 points. In 2024, he lost the Democratic primary to entrepreneur Joe Salerno by just over one point. Salerno went on to lose to Van Drew by nearly 17 points.

Critics argue that Alexander has already shown he can’t defeat Van Drew. But the candidate argues that he has the best name recognition in the district, an established base, and that the political landscape is completely different this year. He said he’s learned from his prior runs and from campaigning for Gov. Mikie Sherrill in South Jersey last year.

He previously ran as a polite “gentleman candidate,” but now if he gets to face Van Drew again, he’s “taking the gloves off,” he said in an interview.

“We’re not going to spare any punches or pull any punches,” he said. “We’re going to lay into him every chance we get, especially with his own words.”

Alexander’s campaign on Wednesday apologized for posting an endorsement on its website falsely attributed to Carol Sabo, a former West Cape mayor who supports Mullock. Alexander said it was posted in error.

Mullock, 40, is the mayor of Cape May and his family has made their mark on the historic beach town. With his family, Mullock helped found the Harriet Tubman Museum and the Cape May Point Arts and Science Center.

The mayor also serves on the Atlantic Cape Community College Board and works as a general contractor, largely for members of his family, who own the Chalfonte Hotel and Cape May National Golf Club, where Mullock works as the vice president.

He has the second biggest fundraising haul and loaned his campaign $110,000 of his own money.

Mullock, who touts pursuing creative local projects without raising taxes, makes the case that he is the only candidate with a proven record of winning an election and working with both sides of the aisle.

His critics say Cape May is just a tiny slice of the district and that he isn’t well known elsewhere. But the candidate said he’s been working to meet locals in every corner of the district and knows how to “speak the language of South Jersey,” which he acknowledges is diverse.

He said he knew Van Drew for decades and “can’t believe the direction that he’s gone.”

“I had a meeting with him in D.C. a few months back, and just legitimately didn’t recognize the person that I was talking to,” he said.

Reese, 59, a lifelong Atlantic County resident, calls herself “a true daughter of the district” and a true progressive. Her campaign is run by volunteers, she tries to keep spending within the district, and encourages votes over money from people struggling to pay the bills. She has the least money in the race.

The single mother of two adult children said she can uniquely speak to the “destruction” that Van Drew’s policies have had on working-class members in the district like herself.

“We need more working-class people in Congress that can really understand and speak from a first-person experience as to how different policies that are enacted there are affecting people on the ground,” she said in an interview.

Reese said she worked as a retail store manager for 30 years before becoming a caregiver for her mother who had dementia and made a little too much to qualify for Medicaid. She worked for startups remotely and now works for the New Jersey Department of Labor in the wage and hour division while campaigning.

Winder, 34, has lived in England, Princeton, and Washington, D.C.

He moved to the South Jersey district last year, just a month before launching his campaign.

“When I first launched the campaign, flipping that seat was something that was seen as pretty aspirational,” he said in an interview. “It’s a difficult seat to flip, but at this point, where we are now, I think it’s absolutely possible.”

» READ MORE: Bayly Winder has the most money in the race to face Jeff Van Drew. He also has the fewest connections to the South Jersey district.

He touts his experience working on Iran policy for the State Department, consulting for the FBI, and working at USAID.

“I wanted to run because I think I felt like so many others, that Congress is broken and dysfunctional and corrupt, and I wanted to be a part of that change. I didn’t want to be on the sidelines for that,” he said.

He leads the pack in fundraising and has sizable financial support from other states. His Wyoming and D.C.-based parents have supported his candidacy with at least $64,000.

Winder has embraced the fight against a data center in Vineland the loudest out of anyone in the primary.