Bennett lands early endorsement from major veterans group

Rebecca Bennett, one of the Democrats hoping to unseat Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), will have a well-financed national group on her side as she works to win an increasingly crowded Democratic primary contest.

VoteVets PAC, a Democratic-affiliated group that supports military veterans and national security officials running for public office, announced this morning that it is endorsing Bennett for New Jersey’s highly competitive 7th congressional district. Bennett served in the U.S. Navy for over a decade as a helicopter pilot, and remains a member of the Air National Guard.

“Rebecca Bennett has the experience and leadership skills necessary to not only win this critical race, but to effectively serve her community in Congress as well,” Max Rose, a VoteVets senior advisor and former New York congressman, said in a statement. “We’re all in on this campaign because we know Rebecca is the only candidate that can flip this district and help Democrats take back the House.”

Prior races suggest that VoteVets’ support could come with concrete financial help. In the 2024 Democratic primary for now-Senator Andy Kim’s open House seat, VoteVets PAC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars supporting Herb Conaway, a retired Air Force captain; the PAC helped Conaway dramatically outspend his opposition, and he won the primary easily.

VoteVets was also one of Kim’s earliest Senate endorsers last cycle, backing the three-term congressman and former national security advisor even as most other national Democrats stayed out of what became a fierce primary between Kim and New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy. (An early internal poll from VoteVets that found then-Senator Bob Menendez deep underwater with his own constituents was one of the earliest signs that Kim’s Senate campaign could succeed.)

It remains to be seen whether VoteVets will become as engaged in Bennett’s campaign, but with over a year to go until the 2026 Democratic primaries, even just the endorsement could help introduce Bennett to Democratic donors and activists. Bennett previously got the endorsement of a smaller group, New Politics, that is similarly focused on Democratic military veterans running for office.

Bennett is one of four Democrats currently in the race against Kean, a two-term Republican who represents one of the most closely divided districts in the country; also running are former Small Business Administration official Michael Roth, former Forward Party leader Brian Varela, and former Summit Councilman Greg Vartan.

Other candidates could join the race as well, with several actively looking at campaigns – though VoteVets’ early endorsement signals that Bennett may end up being the only military veteran among them.