This year’s filing deadline for candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey was March 23, 2026.

Fifty-two candidates — 38 Democrats and 14 Republicans — are running for New Jersey’s 12 congressional districts. That’s 4.3 candidates per district. That’s the second-highest number of candidates running in New Jersey since 2014. There were 4.2 candidates per district in 2024, 4.7 in 2022, 4.2 in 2020, 4.1 in 2018, 3.1 in 2016, and 3.8 in 2014.

Not among the candidates running is incumbent Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D), who is retiring from public office. As a result, the 12th Congressional District is open this year. There was one open district in 2024, one in 2022, none in 2020, two in 2018, none in 2016, and three in 2014.

The district has attracted a high number of candidates. Fourteen candidates — 13 Democrats and one Republican — are running for the 12th Congressional District, the most candidates running for a district this year.

Ten primaries — eight Democratic and two Republican — are contested this year. In total, there were 16 contested primaries in 2024, 15 in 2022, 15 in 2020, 12 in 2018, 10 in 2016, and 12 in 2014.

Four incumbents — all Democrats — are running in those contested primaries. There were seven incumbents in contested primaries in 2024, six in 2022, eight in 2020, five in 2018, seven in 2016, and four in 2014.

The 8th Congressional District is guaranteed to Democrats because no Republicans will appear on the ballot. Democrats filed to run in all 12 districts, meaning none are guaranteed to Republicans.

New Jersey and five other states — California, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico, and South Dakota — are holding U.S. House primaries on June 2, 2026.

In New Jersey, the candidate with the highest number of votes wins even if they did not win more than 50% of votes cast.