CAPE MAY — Four Democrats are competing in the primary June 2, hoping to challenge U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew for his seat in New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District on Election Day in November.
They are Tim Alexander, Zack Mullock, Terri Reese and Bayly Winder.
Alexander, a civil rights lawyer, said as a young man, right at the start of his career in law enforcement, he survived a violent encounter with Newark police in which he was shot, beaten and wrongly charged.
“That event, along with my grandfather’s encouragement, motivated me to continue the path to a career in law enforcement on the premise, ‘In order to create change, it is best to do it from within,’” Alexander said. “I spent nearly 30 years in law enforcement. These roles give me credibility in public safety and justice because I’ve been on both sides of the badge.”
Alexander had planned to step away from politics but the re-election of Trump in 2024 and his policies convinced Alexander to run again.
Mullock, a lifelong Cape May resident and two-term mayor, said one of his reasons for entering the race came down to a moral obligation after this past January, when a series of informational signs about slavery were removed from the President’s House in Old City Philadelphia, a historic site operated by the National Park Service.
“That moment made it clear to me: this is bigger than politics,” Mullock said. “It’s a moral issue, and I felt it was my responsibility to step up and run.”
Reese, a lifelong Northfield resident, had contemplated running for Congress for years but due to a fluctuating work schedule in retail and caring for a parent suffering dementia, she did not have time to campaign. But when President Donald Trump was sworn in for his second term in January 2025, Reese decided it was time to run.
“I have a working-class background that is rooted in many of the same problems and struggles that my neighbors face every day here in South Jersey,” Reese said.
Winder is a fourth-generation New Jerseyan. He said he felt called to serve the country after growing up in a family in which both of his grandfathers served in the military and his mother’s parents served in the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency.
“Their example shaped my own decision to serve our country,” Winder said.
The candidates provided the Star and Wave with answers to questions posed to all four. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
– By RACHEL SHUBIN/For the Cape May Star and Wave
