Despite his immense personal wealth and his southern New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District supporting Trump 51-45, Republican Rep. Tom MacArthur may have just painted an enormous target on his back for 2018 after he played a key role in helping the House GOP pass its health care bill early in May. Prominent attorney Katherine Hartman is considering challenging MacArthur as a Democrat and has already filed a statement of candidacy with the FEC to begin raising money. Hartman is a longtime civil rights attorney who once served as president of the Burlington County Bar Association, meaning she could have the right connections needed to fundraise for this incredibly expensive ancestrally GOP district.
In addition to Hartman, the Burlington County Times also reports that New Jersey Hospital Association Director Betsy Ryan is considering running, while an unnamed Democratic source says the DCCC is interested in recruiting someone like Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt or Assemblyman Troy Singleton. However, there’s no direct word from any of those three Democrats about their interest. National security expert Andrew Kim had recently said he was considering running here and Democrats might even have a primary with multiple noteworthy candidates, which would be a big change of fortunes after MacArthur skated by against a weak perennial Democratic candidate in 2016.