Updated, 9:30 p.m. Tuesday
New Jersey will continue to have a Republican representing its 4th District in the House of Representatives, as Chris Smith has been declared the winner of the 2026 election, according to the Associated Press.
Smith was leading Democratic challenger Rachel Peace 143,360 to 101,136 with 85 percent of the precincts counted, according to the AP.
It will be the 24th term in the House for Smith, 73, who began serving in 1981, 12 years before Peace, 34, was born.
Vote totals remain unofficial until certified by the Ocean County and Monmouth County clerk's offices later in November.
It was another solid victory for Smith in an area that has reliably voted for Republican candidates for most of the last 35 years.
Smith touts his record on pushing through legislation to help combat Lyme disease and support for families of those with Alzheimer's disease and for individuals with autism. Smith has pushed relentlessly to fight human trafficking, particularly in China, and legislation to support military veterans. He has pressed for legislation to fight human trafficking and fought to restore the state and local tax deduction (also known as the SALT deduction) on federal income taxes that was initially eliminated by the Trump administration under the "Big Beautiful Bill."
Locally, he helped get approval for $23.8 million in federal funding for infrastructure and humanitarian projects in Monmouth and Ocean counties in 2026.
Peace, a 2010 graduate of Brick Memorial High School and a 2014 graduate of Hofstra University, had focused on affordability issues and support for families, including fighting to guarantee health care, paid family leave, and child care. She wants to see efforts to improve coastal resilience and protect against flooding, while also making efforts to improve renewable energy. She wants to see the federal minimum wage increased to a living wage — it has not been increased since the early 1990s — and reforms to make housing more affordable, and home ownership more attainable. She also wants an end to the war in Iran, calling it "a total disregard for international and constitutional law," and "a burden placed on working Americans every time they go to get gas."
The 4th District includes 40 towns in Monmouth and Ocean counties.
The Ocean County towns in the 4th District are: Bay Head, Beachwood, Berkeley Township (part; also 2nd District; includes Holiday City-Berkeley, Holiday City South, Holiday Heights, and Silver Ridge), Brick Township, Island Heights, Jackson Township, Lacey Township (part; also 2nd; includes Forked River), Lakehurst, Lakewood Township, Lavallette, Manchester Township, Mantoloking, Ocean Gate, Pine Beach, Point Pleasant Beach, Point Pleasant, Plumsted Township, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park, South Toms River, Toms River.
The Monmouth County towns in the 4th District are: Avon-By-The-Sea, Belmar, Brielle, Colts Neck Township, Eatontown, Farmingdale, Freehold Township (part; also 3rd District), Howell Township, Lake Como, Manasquan, Middletown Township (part; also 6th; includes Lincroft, Navesink, and part of Belford, Fairview, North Middletown, and Port Monmouth), Ocean Township, Sea Girt, Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury Township, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, Tinton Falls, Wall Township.
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