GALLOWAY, Oct. 23, 2026 — Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock and U.S. Rep. Jefferson Van Drew accused each other of not telling the truth Thursday night in their 2nd Congressional District debate at Stockton University, clashing over the Iran war, health care, offshore wind and beach replenishment.

The hourlong debate, with no audience in the room, was hosted by Stockton's William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy and The Press of Atlantic City. Alyssa Maurice of the Hughes Center and Nicholas Huba of the Press asked the questions. Election Day is Nov. 3.

Mullock, a Democrat, opened by saying Van Drew "has sold out South Jersey to data centers, to the war in Iran, to doubling our health insurance prices." Van Drew, the Republican incumbent, pointed to federal money he has brought to the district, including for the Coast Guard in Cape May, the FAA Technical Center and beach replenishment. "He just never tells the truth," Van Drew said of Mullock.

On Iran, Mullock said Van Drew voted for the war six times and called it "a war of stupidity." Van Drew said there was never a vote to go to war, and that he voted against ending hostilities immediately because it would have endangered U.S. troops. "It is time to end this, and I believe that we will," he said.

Mullock cited the Congressional Budget Office in saying Van Drew voted for deep cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Van Drew said he had not. "I will never vote ever to cut Medicare. I will never vote to cut Social Security," he said. Both men said raising the $184,500 cap on income subject to the Social Security tax should be part of the fix for the program's trust fund.

Van Drew said Mullock had received $500,000 from Ørsted on behalf of the city of Cape May without taking a clear position on offshore wind. Mullock said he did not take the money, that he voted no in his one vote on offshore wind, and that Van Drew pushed for wind power for 10 years in the state Senate.

On beach replenishment, Mullock said the federal budget bill Van Drew backed left the work without steady funding, and that Cape May's own replenishment didn't happen this year. Van Drew said he brought in $99 million this year and has proposed a permanent fund paid for with oil and gas money from the Gulf.

The two also traded charges over immigration enforcement, the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, data centers and town hall meetings. Van Drew closed by urging voters not to "go the way of Democrat socialism." Mullock closed by asking, "Are you better off than you were two years ago?"

The full debate is on the Hughes Center's YouTube channel.

Source: William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University and The Press of Atlantic City.