Rodney Freylinghuysen (R) held this seat for many years before Malinowski. And it was reliably Republican until they added a chunk of Union County all the way to Linden. With the redrawn map Malinowski does not even live in the 7th District anymore, he lives in the 12th about 6 miles outside of where he running for re-election.
It was Leonard Lance that held this district.