Democrats have wanted to exact revenge on U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2) ever since the South Jersey congressman changed parties in 2020 and became Donald Trump's most reliable Garden State ally.

The trouble is they haven't exactly come close, and are left seething in the aftermath of statements like this:

"We all love America. I love Cape May. I love New Jersey," Van Drew said at a 2024 rally in Wildwood while welcoming Trump to New Jersey. "We see what's happening today in a faltering economy. We're here today because we're tired of the open borders. There is nothing wrong with saying we believe in America first."

The Democrat turned Republican who served as state director of Trump's 2024 campaign, added, "We're here and we ain't going away." The Biden Administration - "it makes us sick, which is why we're here. I know Democrats, let's face it - that Democratic Party does not represent the Democratic Party of our parents."

A few people could probably make the case that Donald Trump probably ain't Dwight David Eisenhower.

That's just a guess.

To date, if anyone had Benedict Arnold flashbacks in CD-2 they didn't exactly translate to the polls as Van Drew went on that same year to defeat challenger Joe Salerno, 58-41%. The closest any Democrat's come to beating Van Drew was in 2020, when Amy Kennedy chalked up a 46% finish to Van Drew's 52%, or about the same margin of victory Van Drew notched as an incumbent Democrat in 2018 against underfunded Republican movement conservative challenger Seth Grossman (53-45%).

Now, another of Van Drew's defeated rivals, civil rights attorney Tim Alexander, wants a second general election crack at the GOP congressman. Alexander lost in 2022, 59-40% as South Jersey continued its red-ward trajectory, a year after incumbent Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3) lost to nonunion truck driver ED Durr and became the ultimate poster boy for why South Jersey went MAGA while the rest of New Jersey turned bluer. In a sign of the shift from red to blue over the last nearly 20 years, Barack Obama won the district in 2008, 52-46%, while Trump won 52-47% in 2020 and 56-43% in 2024. "A huge wave would have to hit NJ to put it [the seat] in play," according to the Cook Report. Long-parched Dems say there is finally an incoming anti-Trump tsunami. The times, they insist, paraphrasing Bob Dylan, "are a changin'."

"When we look at the six counties in this congressional district [the second consists of all of Salem, Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties, and pieces of Gloucester and Ocean counties], we run the gamut from the shore areas to the farm areas," said Cape May County Democratic Committee Chair Marie Blistan. "It is a very diverse population. We have cities, suburbs and everything in between. To me, I think CD-2 is the Iowa for the presidential predictions. The people here represent the country, and the landscape over the last year and a half has been turned upside down. We have people struggling because of food, healthcare, and energy costs. The government was there to help people, and when Trump - with Mr. Van Drew helping him - cut Medicaid, we're talking about cuts to real people.  We have a lot of senior citizens. Those Medicaid cuts that Mr. Van Drew supported are affecting real people. Our farmers down here are struggling to figure out how to make it, to try to meet the fertilizer costs for their crops. The costs are out of control."

Alexander and three other contenders vie in the June 2nd Democratic Primary for the right to take on - and take out, because, like Blistan, they insist the times have changed - Van Drew. They are Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock, activist Terri Reese and former State Department Official Bayly Winder.

BAYLY WINDER

"This year is different because working families have been so burned by Trump's

policies and Van Drew's blind support," said Winder of Mays Landing. "People are shocked by their utility bills. Overall, this is an unsustainable moment for South Jersey, and people know we need to shake off the same old politics that have failed. The system's broken. We see momentum here. Mikie Sherrill flipped three counties in the district."

Winder's foreign policy expertise at the state department included Iran, and as he campaigns throughout CD-2 he emphasizes the connection between Trump's blundering attack of that Middle Eastern country and a worsened domestic economy.

"We have unfortunately seen the cruel twist of Trump's foreign policy," said Winder, who notes that Van Drew failed in his duty to ensure congressional oversight. "This is an executive branch that has abused power. This is a conflict started with a bad premise. Under pressure from Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump felt emboldened by Venezuela. Iran is a very different case, a different landscape. It is not the kind of place where you want to go in blindly while screwing over people back home.

"Van Drew promised to protect Medicaid and he was the deciding vote on Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill," Winder added. "Our entire healthcare sector is under threat and Van Drew no longer reports to the people of the district but to his boss at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It is a betrayal and people are not forgetting. How can they, when they are experiencing the direct cuts to healthcare and SNAP benefits. As he protects billionaires, Trump and Van Drew are punishing New Jersey constantly."

Seeking to restore a true sense of public service to government, Winder leads the CD-2 Democratic Primary pack on the fundraising front. At the end of March, he had $247K COH and had raised $643K. "Our fundraising has been built by hard work," he told InsiderNJ. "We are here to flip the seat. That's the message. We have 4,000-plus donors. That's the base that will give us a shot in November. People want to win. This is the year we can win. I'm feeling fired up and working hard to aggressively get our message out there."

Among Winder's backers, who include former USAID Administrator Samantha Power, for whom Winder worked, stands New Jersey Citizen Action.

NJCA’s Executive Director, Dena Mottola Jaborska, said in a statement last week:

“Bayly’s stance that NJ should have affordable healthcare for all, increased funding for rural clinics across CD2 to prevent closures, increased funding for maternal health, expanded Medicare to include dental, vision, and hearing, and lower prescription drug costs reflects NJCA’s ongoing fight for affordable healthcare, and people over billionaires.

“Bayly also has a strong stand against unchecked corporate power. His concern that AI data center expansion in communities across South Jersey is harming the residents due to environmental damage, and leading to rising utility bills, is similar to our concerns of undue burden on working families. We need leadership that will ensure people are not paying for corporate profits, while struggling to make ends meet within their own homes."

TIM ALEXANDER

Running with the backing of his home county party organization in Atlantic, in addition

to Cumberland, Salem, and Ocean, Alexander says unaffordability in CD-2 boils down to "chaos coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and complicity from Congress."

As he goes around the district, the former law enforcement officer and prosecutor turned civil rights attorney encounters people who cannot afford $4.50 on average for gasoline or the going grocery prices.

"And there are no congressional hearings with grocery store owners," he said. "Things are upended and the American consumer is paying the price. Rents in our area - rents! - are higher than mortgages. We have a housing crisis - and all these things can be dealt with through the House and Senate."

Alexander said he remains the best option to defeat his old nemesis Van Drew.

"People should remember that I got 95K votes in the general last time, and in my opinion, when you're trying to accomplish something, starting from zero every single time is a mistake. I've run in the general, plus I've run in the primary [2024] before. The reality is I've got the name recognition."

He's lagging on the fundraising front, having raised $66.5K by March 31st, with a closing balance of nearly $7K. "I'm on the train to D.C. [to raise money] right now," he told InsiderNJ. Insiders are still unconvinced that Van Drew is beatable, he pointed out, but Alexander said he knows he can beat the incumbent Republican. Others see an opportunity, too, at the heart of the district's ground game.

UNITE HERE Local 54, the hospitality workers’ union representing over 13,000 workers across New Jersey, Delaware and Eastern PA earlier this year announced its endorsement of Alexander in the Democratic primary for Congress in New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District.

“Tim Alexander has been a union member, PBA #77, for over 4 decades and understands that when workers do better, our entire community does better,” said Donna DeCaprio, President of UNITE HERE Local 54. “He has consistently stood with working people, listened to our members, and fought for fair wages, safe workplaces, and dignity on the job. We are proud to endorse Tim Alexander because he will be a strong voice for South Jersey’s working families in Congress.”

How did Van Drew become a weak voice, InsiderNJ asked the Democratic challenger.

"By voting for that one big bullshit bill," Alexander said. "That devastated our district, and it falls squarely on his shoulders. That bill meant cuts to affordable care, SNAP, healthcare, HeadStart, Meals on Wheels. This guy is out of his mind. This is not the reality of the 2nd Congressional District. Jeff just doesn't get it or he's too afraid to buck Trump to realize that people are out here choosing between rent, healthcare and gas."

While repeatedly emphasizing affordability, Alexander also takes time to address the Trump Administration's malfeasance and malpractice in the area of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

"My priority is getting food in people's mouths," said the former police detective. "But let me be clear. ICE agents are not law enforcement. You can't go from storming the Capitol on January 6th to badges and guns in ICE. I'm sorry. When I get in there, we're going to investigate the grift and atrocities at DHS [Department of Homeland Security] and take that information to the justice department of the next president and get indictments to hold people accountable."

ZACK MULLOCK

Having served for six years as a local chief executive in his hometown of Cape May, Mayor Zack Mullock got in the contest late and raised $274K to report a closing balance of $250K on March 31st.

"Mayor Mullock has worked successfully across the aisle," said Blistan. "People are hurting. They're hurting everywhere, regardless of party affiliation. They are not supportive of the extreme partisan politics this country has turned into. They are looking for people who can work across the aisle."

When the Cape May Democratic Committee endorsed Mullock in March, they noted his leadership in the construction of a new firehouse and library, and hiring of new police officers and firefighters.

His backers also point out that Mullock is the only candidate in the primary race who holds elected office.

TERRI REESE

Employed at the New Jersey Department of Labor, Reese said she is running to take an

authentic South Jersey voice to the halls of Congress. "I have shared their struggles and weathered their storms," she said, referring to her neighbors. "They need a person to go to Congress who is not beholden to Donald Trump."

Van Drew first won his congressional seat as a moderate Democrat.

"He talked about a woman's right to choose and other issues that were pretty middle of the road," said Reese, running out of Northfield.

Then he flip-flopped.

"He meets Donald Trump - and I got to tell you, as someone who was living here watching what Trump did to the casino contractors, you'd think Van Drew wouldn't be swayed by someone like that but sure enough, in 2019 he decides to switch parties. He changed completely. His positions are 100% with the MAGA philosophy."

Reese met with Van Drew last year to tell him she planned to run against him.

"I was not thinking he would respond but he did, within 20 minutes, and said, 'We have an availability at the office.' When I asked him questions related to issues that are pretty important to the people here, all of his responses were right down the administration line. Waste, fraud and abuse. Well, you gave up your ability to exercise congressional oversight when you signed off on DOGE, dude."

Trump's history in the district, in Atlantic City, really galls Reese.

"He stiffed so many different contractors and subcontractors, they went out of business and declared bankruptcy," said the Democrat. "Some tried to take him to court and got paid pennies on the dollar. I just don't understand how anybody in this area could vote for him after that. It's just infuriating, and our current person - Van Drew - goes right along with it. When are you going to stand up and stop affiliating with someone who's using the presidency to enrich himself without any compunction, and when are you going to back the working class?"

Reese said she gets the challenge of the district itself, gerrymandered to protect a Republican, but she does see a pathway, especially given Trump's incessant blunders negatively impacting the district's working poor.

"It's unfortunate that the 2nd District contains two big Republican strongholds in Ocean and Cape May where Republicans outnumber Democrats," she admitted.

But in the other counties, unaffiliateds have the edge.

While fundraising has proved a challenge for her campaign ($14K raised, nearly $1,600 COH), Reese said she'll stick with authenticity and being able to look at herelf in the mirror over throwing around a lot of sinister out-of-district cash.

"I do not think Bayly Winder would be an improvement over Jeff Van Drew," she said of the candidate in the Democratic Primary who to date raised the most money. "I think he's one and the same. He positions himself as a new type of Democrat but he's just another Washington, D.C. insider. I will gladly support Zack or Tim if they win. We need to look at the character of the person."

Of course, Reese wants to be that person.

THE DEBATE

The four Democrats are scheduled to participate tomorrow, May 20, in a debate sponsored by The William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University and The Press of Atlantic City. Alyssa Maurice, assistant director at the Hughes Center, and a representative from The Press, will moderate. The Press and the Hughes Center will accept suggested debate questions from members of the public in advance of the event.

The debate will take place before a live, public audience at 6 p.m. at Stockton’s Campus Center Event Room, 101 Vera King Farris Drive, and will also be livestreamed by the Hughes Center and The Press. A recording will be archived on the Hughes Center’s site.