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Kean, Altman trade barbs, lean into support for Israel, Jewish community at debate

The sole debate between the candidates for New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District rehashed attacks both have leveled on the campaign trail

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Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) and Democratic challenger Sue Altman sparred over Israel policy and antisemitism at their first and only debate on Sunday night, rehashing attacks and jabs each has been deploying on the campaign trail, trying to characterize each other as too extreme for the moderate district.

Both candidates cast themselves as strong defenders of Israel and fighters of antisemitism and sought to raise doubts about their opponents’ records. New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, which they’re vying to represent, includes a significant Jewish population.

Early in the debate, Altman — the former leader of the left-wing Working Families Party in New Jersey — highlighted her support for Israel as a key rupture between herself and the Working Families Party, which supports anti-Israel policies at the national level.

Kean nevertheless hit Altman on the issue several times throughout the debate, accusing her of supporting the WFP’s positions because she did not publicly disavow it while she was working for the group. 

Altman accused Kean of “lying,” saying that she had never held a public stance on Israel while she worked at the WFP, actively fought the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, had traveled throughout Israel and utilized teaching materials from Yad Vashem.

Altman’s decision to highlight her break with the WFP also reflects her broader efforts to distance herself, to an extent, from her progressive history to better appeal to the moderate 7th Congressional District, as well as defuse Republicans’ characterizations of her as too extreme for the district.

Kean, echoing other attacks he and his allies have leveled on the campaign trail, also accused Altman of supporting antisemitic congressional candidates and of not speaking quickly or forcefully enough against campus antisemitism. 

Altman again accused Kean and Republicans of misrepresenting her record and highlighted her efforts to engage with Jewish voters and speak out against antisemitism.

She said she was “incensed” by the attacks and accused Kean and Republicans of “tokeniz[ing] the Jewish people.” And Altman accused Kean of ignoring local Jewish leaders and failing to speak out about when antisemites held events at former President Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf club in the district — an attack her campaign has deployed against Kean on the trail. “Spare me,” Altman concluded.

Both candidates indicated during the debate that they’d be open to supporting an Israeli strike to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program.

Kean said that he would “support Israel making that decision and going in on its own,” adding that Israel must “have the right to win this fight, as well as make sure that we stand up against antisemitism anywhere in this world.”

Altman said that there “could be a case made for a preemptive strike” on Iran’s nuclear facilities but said she’d want to be “very careful. I’d want it to be very surgical, and I’d want to make sure that we were eliminating its ability to recreate this nuclear threat.”

Kean and Altman both offered strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas and the other terrorist groups and said that they would not support additional conditions on aid to Israel. Both said they did not believe Israel is committing genocide.

In recent weeks, the race has been seen as tipping in Kean’s direction.

The Cook Political Report recently shifted its ranking for the race from “toss-up” to “lean Republican,” citing Kean’s cash advantage in the expensive media market and polling showing him with a consistent lead. Altman internal polling and recent polling by Altman and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee shows her down by just two points.

House Democrats’ campaign organizations also haven’t yet come to Altman’s aid, while she’s facing significant outside spending on Kean’s behalf from the Congressional Leadership Fund and the Elon Musk-backed America PAC. That fact was on display during a lightning round at last night’s debate — asked whether they felt their parties were giving them adequate support, Kean gave a thumbs-up, while Altman gave a thumbs-down.

Kean and his backers are largely seeking to characterize Altman as too liberal for the moderate swing district, an effort that has extended to her record on Israel and campus protests. As Kean did during the debate, he and his allies have attacked Altman as untrustworthy on Israel and antisemitism, highlighting her WFP affiliations and relationships with other Israel critics.

Altman has been trying to defuse GOP attacks by framing herself as the more mainstream and nonpartisan candidate, describing Kean as an extremist conservative, seeking to tie him to Trump and right-wing donors and criticizing Kean for dodging local press. Both campaign strategies were on full display at the Sunday evening debate.

If concerns about Altman’s record on Israel and antisemitism stick, the district’s Jewish voters could help tip the election toward Kean.

Dan Cassino, the executive director of the Fairleigh Dickinson University poll, told Jewish Insider that the district was “always going to be a reach for the Democrats” because Kean doesn’t have any major scandals and is “perceived basically as a generic Republican.”

He said that Kean’s largely low-profile campaign indicates that it doesn’t feel Altman’s effort to cast him as an extremist is working, suggesting a Kean win. But he agreed with the Cook rating that the race is a true toss-up.

“The same way that Sue Altman has not been able to persuade, I think, the district that Kean is way too far right, I’m not sure the attempts to portray Altman as being way too far left have been successful either,” Cassino said.

He said that efforts to paint Altman as a “wild extremist” have been undercut by her aggressive engagement in the district — ”she’s coming out, seems reasonable.” He also noted that Israel policy hasn’t been a major topic on the trail or in ads running in the district, saying that Altman seems to have been largely successful in neutralizing or blunting that line of attack.

Ultimately, though, Cassino said that an Altman victory in the district will rely on winning over moderate Republican voters, and he didn’t see Altman as having provided them with a strong rationale for crossing over to vote for her. 

He said that a strong wave of enthusiasm for Vice President Kamala Harris or against Trump could help fuel stronger-than-expected Democratic turnout and give Altman a boost.

Democratic Majority for Israel, which had reportedly been leaning toward supporting Altman’s primary opponent earlier this year, ultimately endorsed Altman last month. 

A source familiar with DMFI’s work told JI at the time that Altman offered a “very strong” position paper and had clearly told both DMFI and the Working Families Party that she disagreed with the WFP on Israel.

“She made clear what her position was not only to us, but to them,” the individual said. “And so we took that as a very strong positive sign.”

Ben Chouake, the president of pro-Israel group NORPAC, said his group is backing Kean, but more due to Kean’s record dating back to the state Legislature, his incumbency and his relationship with the pro-Israel community than any specific concerns about Altman. Chouake said that Kean’s desire to serve on the House Foreign Affairs Committee shows Kean’s dedication to and interest in foreign policy.

“He’s a highly committed person,” Chouake said. “He and his family before him are always very deeply committed to U.S-Israel relations and to Israel. So it’s hardly a surprise that he’s similarly committed.”

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