Michael Ferguson

What suspense there was in New Jersey is now over, as the state's lone competitive House seat has been called for the incumbent, Republican Michael Ferguson, who has fended off state Assemblywoman Linda Stender. Ferguson can thank a 2002 incumbent-friendly redistricting plan that fortified his 7th District with solidly Republican area-- without which he likely would have be gone right now. -- Steve Kornacki

E. Scott Garrett, one of the most conservative members of the entire U.S. House, has been declared the winner in the northern New Jersey 5th Congressional District, holding off Democrat Paul Aronsohn. The seat, which serves some of the most rural and right-leaning areas of the state, was seen as fairly safe for Garrett-- one where defeat would signal doomsday for the national Republican Party.

Still unknown, however, is whether Republican Michael Ferguson has survived in the central Jersey-based 7th District, a less solidly GOP area. His opponent, Assemblywoman Linda Stender, has mounted a credible campaign in what is now the only unsettled race in the Garden State.

-- Steve Kornacki