New Jersey's most contentious house race is in district 7 which spans from the Delaware River in Warren County to the urban suburbs in Rahway the race between GOP incumbent Tom Kean Jr and Democratic Challenger Sue Altman is neck and neck with national implications helping to decide the balance of power in Congress early voting numbers for the district show more Democrats voted early there than Republicans by about 4600 but that doesn't indicate who will turn up at the poll today Democrats though aren't taking any chances deploying Governor Murphy and the state democratic chair to get out the vote in areas of Union County where they're hopeful to pick up votes senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan has the latest we are as far as I know tied which is incredible the last poll we saw I know I know canvas applauded as a giddy Sue Altman cited the latest Mammoth University poll showing her in a statistical tie with incumbent Republican Tom Kean Jr on Election Day the hottest New Jersey Congressional race is a jump ball we know that Democrats have turned out more voters early voting and vote by mail in the Seventh District so we are in the fourth quarter which is so exciting and as a former basketball player I know that when you go into the fourth quarter and you're tied you know it's going to be a dog fight now it's all about getting out the vote and Altman led the way these volunteers knocking on doors in cd7 drove here from solidly Democratic Congressional districts in New Jersey as part of a formidably organized ground game that's been electrified by the perceived threat to abortion Healthcare posed by a trump presidency Altman gave the closing pep talk the Republicans have nothing like this their field operation is paid by Elon Musk so that tells you everything you need to know we are one of the top places he's spending in the entire country so they're nervous she has a lot of energy and support behind her but at the same time the Republican super PACs have outspent the Democratic super PACs here pretty heavily and so you know I think at the end of the day Kean is probably still favored cook political reports Erin Covey rates this contest as leans Republican and says Kean Jr still gets mileage out of Kean senior's Fame as former Governor the first term Congressman doesn't post a campaign schedule and generally avoid speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill including NJ Spotlight news' as Ben Hulac last month do you regret endorsing Donald Trump Kane claims he's not anti-abortion but he did endorse Trump he polls better than Altman on the economy and immigration and during a recent debate noted my opponent on the other hand since 209 has been a paid extreme political activist who supports Progressive causes and and will never stand up to the far left wing of our own party GOP Super PAC supporting Kean of saturated media with expensive ads attacking Altman as an extreme Progressive she's a radical liberal activist who threatens your future cd7 does tilt more conservative after being redrawn to include 19,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats and Republicans we spoke to say they want change the country is going in a bad Direction so see what happens now economy I think it's on everybody's mind they're trying to figure out who is going to help the American the middle class cd7 red shift ultimately ended Democrat Tom malinowski's reelection bid two years ago but the former Congressman thinks alman's gained significant momentum against Kean I think her views are much more aligned particularly on issues like abortion with most of the voters in in the district we're talking about this race and District significantly because Donald Trump is at the top of the ticket for the Republican party for Rowan analyst Ben Dworkin Trump Remains the elephant in the room cd7 May Trend MAGA red but he suspects women here could get caught up in the apparent movement that's motivated many including Republicans to cast ballots for Kamala Harris in early voting there is the potential in this district for significant crossover but the question is really what not just whether there's going to be crossover of Republicans who might vote for Harris because they're uncomfortable with Trump dworin says the larger question is if folks do vote for Harris will they keep on voting for Democrats all the way down that cd7 ballot in Sparta I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight news [Music]