♪♪ >> From NJPBS Studios, this is "NJ Spotlight News" with Brianna Vannozzi.

>> Hello, and thanks for joining us tonight.

I'm Joanna Gagas.

Brianna Vannozzi is off.

Coming up, the primary election We'll get you the latest on the winners and the losers as we now head into the midterms.

And one of the big winners of the night, Rebecca Bennett, who will now face off against Congressman Tom Kaine Jr.

in District 7.

We'll talk to her.

But first, Congressman Jeff Van Drew joins us to give his take on Delaney Hall after his recent busy pan.

That's next.

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Newark Mayor Raz Baraka made the decision on Tuesday to lift a curfew that was put in place around Delaney Hall Detention Center last weekend.

His decision comes after the Newark police took over the safety patrol in the area from the state police.

Baraka is also ramping up legal efforts to close the facility.

Meanwhile, Governor Sherrill announced that her administration is suing Delaney Hall operator Geo Group after the State Department of Health was denied full access to inspect the detention center last week.

While many Republicans are accusing Democrats of creating a political spectacle around the facility, which they say is well run and in good condition.

Congressman Jeff Van Drew is one of those voices, and he joins us now.

Congressman, thank you so much for taking some time to talk to us.

It's great to have you on the show.

I want to ask you, you are the only Republican who has visited Delaney Hall since we saw these protests really begin to escalate.

Can you just describe the conditions that you saw as you walked through the facility?

Well you know I wanted to see the real deal.

I wanted to know what's really going on.

I suspected that it would be okay.

Quite frankly I've toured many prisons in my years ago when I was in the New Jersey State Senate.

I was head of the prison gang task force so I've seen a lot of prisons in New Jersey.

I thought it would be somewhat similar to that as a detention center.

I was surprised.

Actually everything was clean, everything was nice, everything was safe.

I first looked at the meals and they had meals that were nutritious, a hot breakfast, a hot lunch, a hot dinner with vegetables, with fruit, with lean meats, with basically what a diet should be.

And I got to be honest with you, very few people are having a full hot meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

You know, a lot of New Jersey and Americans are eating a quick bowl of cereal for breakfast and lunch, they might have a bag of pretzels and maybe dinner, they're having something a little bit more.

This is three full hot meals.

And by the way, I was concerned, well, suppose you have high blood pressure or diabetes, or you are allergic or whatever, they have special consideration and special meals for those that have health issues like that.

They also have religious exemptions.

They have kosher meals, halal meals, if you're Islamic.

So they order, they have a wide variety to make sure that people got what they needed and got what they want.

So then I also spoke to a physician.

Yeah, I want to get to the medical piece.

I'm going to come right back to that, but I just want to ask you, this doesn't square with what we've heard from many folks who have toured the facility in the past and some on the inside who say there's worms in the food, they've been served moldy food, inedible food.

I'm just curious is it possible with so much emphasis and focus on Delaney that maybe conditions were changed inside or improved?

Do you have any suspicion of that whatsoever?

I have no sense of that and the people that are there at Delaney now are the same people as far as the staff and the administrator that have always been there and I went into detail with her and discussed it.

I think people are using this politically to try to make something that just isn't true.

I don't know how else to say it.

I mean they say things that are there aren't children, there aren't babies, there aren't pregnant women, just those things aren't there.

And again they say that there's somebody people are sick and nobody's taking care of them.

I'm a dentist so I went to medical school.

I the physician.

People are blood pressure medication to try to get these peopl as I said, they're also g when they need them.

I th I don't think it's true.

It's all democrats that a lot of people are looking to make a political issue and situation out of this and it's not accurate.

And I can say that, and I'll tell you what, if anybody wants to get a lie detector, somebody that's bona fide and certified to do it, I'll go and sit through a lie detector and I'll let them sit through a lie detector and see who comes out okay.

I'm telling you the truth.

I'm telling you how it is.

I'm curious, did you have the opportunity to ask how many medical personnel were there in relation to detainees?

What is the ratio there?

Did you have the chance to ask that?

I didn't get the ratio, but there was a physician, a dentist who was not there every day.

Dentists come certain days.

And there were two or three nurses that were there then.

So they seem to have a pretty good staff, and they seem to have it under control.

And I even spoke with some of the people that were detained.

And I'm sure in any group, in a detention center, you're going to have a few of those being detained.

Remember, these are people, some of them that have gun charges, some of them that have committed felonies, some of them that were drug czars and drug pushers.

So you're going to have some people that are not all of them the most reputable people being detained, and you can't believe every single thing that they're saying, obviously.

You raise a good point, Congressman.

Certainly there are people who are in the detention facility who have committed serious crimes.

We're also hearing countless reports of folks who say that they were in the middle of the legal process.

They were at a hearing where they were following through on some type of application to become a U.S.

citizen or be here legally, and they were detained during those hearings.

While you were there, did you get a chance to talk to any of those folks who say that they've been unlawfully detained without due process?

I did talk to some of the folks.

Nobody said that they were unlawfully detained without due process.

And frankly, they'll get due process while they are there.

I'd also like to make another point, and this is clear and I know this to be fact.

If you're there and you really don't like it and you don't want to be there, the U.S.

government will make sure that you're able to get back to your country of origin or another country.

In other words, they can leave if it's so bad here and they can go elsewhere.

Very, very few people are opting to do that.

And I wanted to mention the recreation as well.

I happen to be a guy that works out every day and tries to stay healthy.

The recreation facilities they have, soccer fields in good shape.

And then they have all kinds of indoor and outdoor recreation.

And they have workout areas with just about every kind of machine that you possibly could have.

More equipment than the fitness center that I use.

Here's the real deal.

That's what's going on.

I'm telling people how it is.

I don't think, you know, it should be used politically.

I think that they're doing just fine.

And I think they have to go through a process.

And if they've done nothing wrong or everything's been right, then they're going to be fine.

They're going to get their due process.

But if they've not only committed the crime of being here illegally, but on top of that, committed other crimes, they should go back to their country of origin.

All right, with just a little bit of time left, I want to get to another issue that I know is important to you.

You secured about 12.5 million dollars for the Atlantic City Housing Authority.

Folks who live in housing through that authority have complained for years of just horrific living conditions.

Now that that money has been granted, what oversight needs to be in place to ensure that these people have a safe and respectable place to live?

We have to ensure the governing body that eventually will take over there.

Right now, HUD, which is what I've asked for all along, the federal authorities are wanting it and they are in the process of discovering all the misuse of money, all the fraud, you know, all that went on.

And I don't know all the details of that.

That's up to the federal government now.

for years that the federal government would step in, move in and really evaluate this.

What was happening to seniors and the disabled and just people in general was just awful.

It was shameful.

So we're on a better track, but it's not going to be fixed easily, and it's going to take more money than that.

This has been going on for a long time.

You have just a short bit of time left.

You are now heading into the midterms.

You are going to face off against Zach Mullick, who is a mayor down in South Jersey.

What is your message to your constituency?

Why they should re-elect you?

There's so, you know, it could be a long message, but all that I've done to bring back... Not a lot of time.

All that I've done to bring back what they say is a bacon back to New Jersey.

We have brought more money back for funding in grants than any other district in the state for five consecutive years.

Beach replenishment, all that we've done with the FAA, all that we've done working with the International Airport, all that we've done with broadband.

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is, and what matters most, is our reaction and I guess commitment to the people of the district.

When people have problems, they know that we try to help them.

Sometimes when it's not even a federal problem, it could be a local or a state problem, we give it our best.

I have a real connection with the people in my district.

I've been here for a number of years and I fought hard and worked hard for them.

I love South Jersey and my final message is I really truly love America.

All right Congressman Jeff Andrew we thank you for taking some time to talk to us today down in District 2.

Thank you.

Appreciate you.

Thank you.

One of the most hotly contested house races in the country is now set.

In Congressional District 7, Democratic candidate Rebecca Bennett beat three other challengers and will now go on to face Republican Congressman Tom Kane Jr.

in November.

She joins me now to discuss her win and her plans to flip the district back to blue.

Rebecca Bennett, great to have you on the show.

Congratulations on a big win last night.

Thank you so much for having me back on.

It's great to be here.

I want to ask you what do you believe was the message that resonated most among Democratic voters in your district?

You were able to win and beat out three challengers for the position.

Yeah, well, you know, first of all, I'm really proud of the coalition that we built.

You know, we won in all six counties across the district.

You know, we covered urban areas, we covered suburban areas, we covered rural areas.

And, you know, I'll say what I heard most consistently from everyone over the past year plus that I've been campaigning is, I just wanna win.

I wanna win and flip the seat.

We gotta put our best player on the field to be able to take on Tom Kane Jr.

and flip the seat.

And so my background as a military veteran, I'm a former Navy helicopter pilot.

I served in the military for over 15 years.

I've been working in healthcare in the private sector and I'm a mom of two.

Really was very compelling to be able to say that I'm our best person to be able to take on Tom Kane Jr.

and flip the seat.

And then you know the other thing I would just say is from a priorities perspective you know there's really kind of two key things.

One, we absolutely need to hold this administration accountable for the corruption and the lawlessness that we're seeing.

But we also have to be for something and we have to solve the problems that we're all facing in our everyday lives.

And I'm raising my girls in this district and I understand the challenges that families are facing and I put out a robust policy platform to address the issues that I've heard most from people and so that's why I believe we were able to win so decisively last night.

I want to ask you about some of the attacks that you had to fend off during the later part of this primary campaign.

There was some money spent in a pack from it looks like it appears to be a Republican pack.

Trying to attack you is not tough enough on ICE.

And then we had on the flip side of one of your opponents, Tina Shaw, who ran a campaign ad saying that you were too Republican.

And I just want to ask you, where do you stand on both of those issues?

Yeah, well, first of all, you know, I'll say yes, there was over $650,000 that was spent against me in a Republican super PAC.

You know, we're seeing them do this all over the country.

And so the reason they're doing this is because the Republican Party is trying to put their thumb on the scale in these primaries.

And you know, we were able to be very effective and pushing back on that.

And you know what I said last night in my victory speech is, you know, congratulations to the Republican Party for lighting $650,000 on fire because we were still able to win very decisively.

And you know what I heard a lot of times from people is they said, hmm, if the Republican Party is attacking you, they must not want to be the person that you're, that you know, was running against them in the general election.

And so I think that just helped cement the argument that I was in fact our best candidate to be able to flip the seat.

And you know, to your question on ICE, this is something that I've been very outspoken about.

I think what ICE is doing is really beyond the pale, and they absolutely need to be held accountable.

You know, the fact that we have masked unidentified agents that are murdering Americans in broad daylight, they are detaining children, they are deporting military veterans is absolutely unacceptable and they need to be held accountable.

And this is an example of where Tom Kane Jr.

has absolutely failed us in this district because they were trying to put a nice detention facility in Roxbury in the district and there's a seven zero Republican town council there that did not want it to go in and they reached out to Tom Kane Jr.

and he did absolutely nothing to help them be able to push back on that.

And so, you know, that's just an example of how he is not standing up for us.

He's not holding, he's not delivering for us in the way that we need and we are going to flip the seat in November.

Have you engaged folks in Roxbury?

Are you talking to members of the town council?

Are you talking to Republican voters in that region about that issue?

Yes, I've been on the ground.

You know, I've spoken with a number of the town council members.

I've spoken with a number of activists on the ground there and have been, you know, listening to them.

And, you know, what I would say is that I really consider my leadership deckplate leadership.

And the reason I say that is because my leadership was honed for my time in the Navy.

And it's about showing up and listening and being able to hear about the issues that we're facing to be able to really solve them.

And, you know, what Tom Kane Jr.

would have heard if he had done that is that Roxbury has a 42 person police force.

It's an all volunteer fire department.

And there's a lot of people that are And I think that's a big problem.

>> I'm really focused on what can we do at a federal level to help protect our citizens and our communities.

And I think that's a big problem.

I'm really focused on, you know, what can we do at a federal level from an ICE perspective.

And so to me, it's about, you know, they absolutely need to not have masks on.

They need to have identification.

They need to have warrants.

And so to me, this is about holding ICE accountable, just like any other federal law enforcement agency.

And, you know, I just go to how it was in the military, which is that, you know, if there is an aircraft mishap or an aircraft crash, that person gets removed from flight status and there's an investigation that's done.

And, you know, if there's fault found, that person gets held accountable, their boss's boss gets held accountable.

And it's because you need to have good order and discipline in the organization.

And so, you know, to your point, what ICE is doing in this country is making us less safe and less secure.

And so we need to also recognize that part of the reason we're here is because Congress has failed to have meaningful immigration reform for the last 30 plus years.

And so this is something that we need to work towards to make sure, you know, people like Dreamers have a pathway to citizenship and that we're thinking about really having meaningful immigration reform in this country.

And so just to those centers being closed, you would not call for them to be closed.

Is that right?

Is that what I'm hearing?

I am focused on, you know, what can we do from the federal perspective right now, which is really making sure the ice is being held accountable to the law of the land.

Let me ask you, to win this race you will need independents, you'll need republicans to turn out.

Right now there's about 19,000, close to 19,000 more republican voters in the district than democrats.

What is your message to independents or to republicans, maybe who aren't happy with the congressman at this moment?

Yeah, you know, my message is similar to what I've been sharing for the last year, which is that my leadership is and it has always been country over party.

And when I was in the military, we were just there as Americans to get the job done.

And we didn't talk about what political party we were in.

And so that is the mindset that I'm going to bring to office is that if I have the honor of representing this district, I will do my very best job every single day, and I will wake up and fight as hard for everyone in this district as hard as I fight for my own kids.

And so it's about really being able to go solve problems that we're all facing, and that means tackling our cost of living crisis and solving our child care crisis and making sure we have housing and that we can bring our energy prices down and really addressing the issues that are impacting all of us the most.

And that really is, you know, resonating with people across the political spectrum.

So I do have Democrats supporting me.

I have independent voters supporting me.

I have Republicans supporting me.

And that is how we are going to flip the seat.

Just very quickly, do you expect to see a blue wave in New Jersey across the nation when the midterm elections are here in November?

I think that what we are seeing from this Trump administration is people are very unhappy with what is happening.

You know, Donald Trump ran on no more forever wars and lowering cost of living.

And he is doing the complete opposite right now.

And so this is about holding Tom Kane Jr.

accountable for the fact that he has absolutely failed this district.

He has not stood up for us.

You know, he was the deciding vote on the one big, beautiful bill, which is why tens of thousands of people in our district are losing access to our health insurance.

You know, he was nowhere to be found when this new war is getting started in the Middle East.

He was nowhere to be found when Trump held up the funding for Gateway Tunnel.

And so we are going to hold him accountable for his lack of action in Washington in November.

All right, Rebecca Bennett, the Democratic candidate for Congressional District 7.

Thank you so much for joining us.

And again, congrats on your win.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

So what did last night's primary results mean now that we're heading into the midterms?

Here to analyze the results and what they signal for the two major parties is Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovic Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.

Micah, great to see you.

I know you've been covering these races long before yesterday, but before we kind of go district by district, I want to get a sense from you.

If you kind of you pan out and you take the, you know, the 30,000 foot view, what do yesterday's elections indicate to you just in terms of the mood, the feel here in New Jersey as we now head into the midterms?

Money mattered a lot and it's not just that it's money.

It's the ability to communicate with voters.

That was the case the candidate with the most resources generally won.

Many more Democrats participated than Republicans and that is a mirror of what we've seen with the candidates, more candidates lining up to run on the Democratic side than the Republican side.

And that is an indication of where candidates and voters think that this cycle is headed.

Democrats are much more energized and enthused than Republicans are.

And that's just that's just what we saw yesterday.

And in terms of turnout.

When you talk about money mattering, I want to take a look at District 7 where Rebecca Bennett won the primary.

She is now going to go on to face off against Congressman Tom Kane Jr.

But she was supported by outside PAC spending.

And there that seems to be a trend here where the strongest candidates did have some of that outside support.

Yes.

Yeah, I mean, just like we talked about candidates as a sign or voter turnout as a sign, we can also look at donor participation as a sign.

And the candidates who attracted the most resources generally was because they were viewed as having the best shot, the best shot in the June election, the primary, and the best shot in the fall.

So, you know, so donors were clearly saying that Rebecca Bennett was the person they wanted to take on Tom Kane, the person who they view as having the best shot at November, you know, one of the tightest races in the country.

And so they were investing in her race.

There was a lot of outside money that was attracted.

She was the best fundraiser in the group.

And quite frankly, she had a rash of spending against her by dark money groups as well.

Maybe in some cases, Republican money lining up to try and take her out because they viewed her, Republicans viewed her as well as the most serious threat.

Given the fact right now that there are still about 19,000 more Republican voters in that district than Democrats, and with the support that Kaine still seems to have among Republicans, even though he's missed so much time on Capitol Hill, does Bennett have a real chance at taking him on and beating him in the midterms?

We knew even before Tom Kaine's absence that this was going to be one of the most closely contested races in the entire country.

We've got a very evenly divided House and the race where, you know, this is a district that Mikey Sherrill carried by about two points.

The year before that Donald Trump narrowly carried the district.

So this is a true swing district.

It can go either way.

It doesn't mean that Bennett has it in the bag.

It doesn't mean that Kaine has it in the bag.

And because of that, it is going to be fiercely, hotly contested.

I want to point out one small thing that we did notice yesterday.

You're right.

Kane won his primary handily, but about 12%, a little more than 12% of Republicans in the counties that we can look at so far did not cast their ballots for him.

They withheld their vote for him.

And that could be trouble if that's a sign of Republican defection within the ranks going into November.

We'll see what happens and we'll see how he answers for this absence.

But at this moment, there were a fair number of Republicans who said that they were not going to vote for him.

When you talk about outside spending and just money in general, we know that Democrats nationally will likely see that district as one where they could actually flip a seat.

On the flip side of that, I know Republicans have been eyeing CD9 and Congresswoman Nellie Post's seat as one that they think they can gain some traction and potentially flip.

It looks like, tell us about who won that primary and whether you think that is a vulnerable seat for Democrats.

So Rosie Pino won that primary.

Apparently, The race has actually not been called as of right this minute.

She's got about 400 votes on her opponent, Tiffany Burrus, the spouse of Plaxico Burrus, the former NFL player.

And Pino is a councilwoman in her town in Clifton, and she was able to survive the onslaught of a couple of negative attacks by Burrus.

Voters seemed to reject that.

She tried to make the argument that she was the more MAGA or the more Republican.

Voters seemed to respond to Pino.

She had, obviously, the ability to drive out her vote.

It was a very small turnout race.

But here's the thing.

This district could have been in serious play coming into November if the fortunes of Republicans had not changed.

You have to remember, two years ago, Donald Trump carried this district.

It was a shock.

It was one of the biggest shocks in the entire country, that Passaic County had gone Republican.

So, it immediately went to the Republicans, the top of their target list.

What we're seeing now is that the number of voters who are going to participate this year is not the same in a non-presidential year, when Trump isn't on the ballot, than when he is.

We also know that support among Hispanic voters has fallen off dramatically for President Trump, and so we just don't think that this district is at the top of the list or should be at the top of the list.

Could be again in two years, but right now the Republicans are struggling economically, issues that voters in that district are paying a lot of attention to.

All right, we've got to leave it there.

Obviously so much more we can talk about, but we'll be covering all of this as we now are full steam ahead into the midterm election season.

Mike Erasmuson at Rider University, thank you so much.

Thank you.

That's going to do it for us tonight.

I'm Joanna Gaggis.

For everyone here at NJ Spotlight News, thanks for being with us.

We'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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