NJ 4th District 2022 Election: Chris Smith Faces 5 Challengers

NEW JERSEY — The general election is Tuesday, and with that in mind, here is one last look at the race for New Jersey's 4th District seat in the House of Representatives.

Republican Chris Smith, who has served in Congress for 42 years, is seeking election to his 22nd term serving a redefined district. He moved to Manchester from Mercer County following the redistricting that shifted heavily Republican northern Ocean County out of the 3rd District.

Challenging him for the seat are Democrat Matthew Jenkins, who was raised in Toms River and lives in Colts Neck; Jason Cullen of the Libertarian Party, and independents Pamela Daniels, David Schmidt, and Hank Schroeder.

Smith has easily won his seat in the past and has drawn solid support from Republican voters, but the 2022 campaign has been markedly different. He faced a field of as many as six challengers in the Republican primary in June. That campaign was marked by criticisms calling Smith a "RINO" — Republican in name only — because he had opposed former President Donald Trump on several issues. Among them: Smith voted to certify the 2020 election, and he voted in favor of the Biden administration's $1 trillion infrastructure bill.

Since winning the Republican primary in June, Smith has had to contend with a wide field of challengers for the general election. Jenkins has zeroed in on Smith's abortion stance, including Smith's support of Sen. Lindsey Graham's bill that would ban abortions nationwide after the 15th week of pregnancy — a bill that labels anything after 15 weeks a "late-term" abortion.

Smith, over his years in office, has been firm in his support of a variety of Republican positions, including on immigration, and has opposed vaccine mandates. He also has touted his legislative record, including work to pass bills to support veterans and to go after human trafficking.

Cullen and Schmidt have campaigned on conservative stances on several issues, including gun control, and "America First" policies. Schroeder's positions lean more toward Democratic stances, and Daniels is more centrist on financial matters while advocating for LGBTQ issues.

All five challengers have said Smith's 42 years of service are enough.

Jenkins has campaigned on protecting women's reproductive rights. He supported the Biden administration's efforts to reduce the cost of prescription medications and to address inflation.

Jenkins, Daniels and Smith provided biographical information and responded to questions from Patch about their candidacy. Schmidt, Cullen and Schroeder did not reply.

Read more:

• NJ-4 Congressional District Election 2022: Matthew Jenkins
• NJ-4 Congressional District Election 2022: Pamela R. Daniels
• NJ-4 Congressional District Election 2022: Chris Smith

According to a New Jersey voter registration breakdown, there are 217,263 unaffiliated voters, 131,310 registered Democrats, and 209,261 registered Republicans among the 564,864 voters in the district.

The 4th Congressional District (see the new map here) includes the following towns: In Ocean County, parts of Lacey and Berkeley townships, all of Manchester, Lakehurst, Plumsted, Jackson, Lakewood, Brick, Toms River, South Toms River, Lavallette, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park, Ocean Gate, Pine Beach, Beachwood, Mantoloking, Bay Head, Point Pleasant Beach, Point Pleasant Boro, and in Monmouth County, Brielle, Manasquan, Sea Girt, Spring Lake Heights, Spring Lake, Lake Como, Belmar, Wall, Howell, Farmingdale, Colts Neck, Middletown, Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury Township, Eatontown, Interlaken, Ocean Township, and part of Freehold Township.