Altman and Kean meet for the first debate tonight at 8 p.m

Democrat Sue Altman and Republican Tom Kean Jr. will meet for their first and only debate for a U.S. House seat in New Jersey’s 7th District tonight at 8 p.m.

The race is widely considered one of the most competitive House races in the country.

The 90-minute debate is sponsored by the New Jersey Globe, On New Jersey and the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University and will be streamed on the New Jersey Globe, On New Jersey, Facebook Live, X (formerly Twitter). , and YouTube. C-SPAN will also broadcast the debate.

Laura Jones, host of “New Jersey Politics with Laura Jones,” a weekly public affairs show for MeTV-WJLP New Jersey/New York, will moderate the debate. Panelists include New Jersey Globe political reporter Joey Fox, New Jersey Globe editor David Wildstein and Rebovich Institute director Micah Rasmussen.

Kean, a former New Jersey state Senate minority leader, was elected to Congress in 2022, ousting two-term incumbent Democrat Tom Malinowski by three percentage points.

Altman is a former teacher, professional basketball player and nonprofit executive who became known as a grassroots political activist and state director of New Jersey Working Families.

Joe Biden won the 7th seat in 2020 with 3.6% and Republican Jack Ciattarelli won the district in his 2021 campaign against Gov. Phil Murphy with 12.4%.

Kean participated in the New Jersey Globe debates against Malinowski in 2020 and 2022; Altman agreed to a Democratic primary debate earlier this year before her opponent dropped out.

The independent Cook Political Report lists NJ-7 as Leans Republican.