Bennett named to DCCC’s ‘Red to Blue’ list

Two days after her decisive Democratic primary victory in the 7th congressional district, Rebecca Bennett has been added to “Red to Blue,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s list of top House challengers.

Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot on her first run for elected office, is challenging Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) – whose extended medical absence has elevated the usually lowkey congressman’s national profile – in one of the country’s most competitive districts.

Her addition to the “Red to Blue” list is far from surprising, but serves as further confirmation that national Democrats see the 7th district as worthy of investment. Even without their official support, Bennett has proven to be a remarkably strong fundraiser, raising more than $2.9 million as of her most recent report, though she had to spend nearly all of it to win her primary.

“Rebecca will defeat self-serving and absent career politician Tom Kean Jr. in November and give New Jerseyans the servant and independent leadership they deserve in Congress,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene said in a statement.

Although the DCCC didn’t endorse Bennett during the primary, it became increasingly clear over the course of the campaign that she was indeed the national party’s preferred candidate. VoteVets, a liberal veterans group that often aligns with party leadership, spent more than $1 million on pro-Bennett ads; another group that seems to have national party ties, Article One PAC, spent another $250,000.

Republicans, too, seemed to think that Bennett was the strongest Democratic option, and accordingly took steps to block her from the nomination. A murky super PAC called “Real Change PAC” suddenly landed in the district to attack Bennett two weeks before primary day, and while the group hasn’t yet disclosed any donors, there were quite a few signs that it ties back to the GOP.

The hundreds of thousands of dollars the PAC spent, though, ended up being for naught: “I want to congratulate the Republican Party for lighting $650,000 on fire over the last two weeks,” Bennett said at her victory party on Tuesday. “You know what that tells us? They know that I am our best shot at flipping this seat in November.”

The Bennett-Kean matchup will likely be an expensive and contentious one, just like every other 7th district campaign in recent memory. 2026 will mark the fifth cycle in a row that the seat is viewed as critical for control of the House, and given how evenly divided the district is (it voted for Donald Trump by one point and Mikie Sherrill by two), that may not change regardless of what happens this year.

Bennett, in fact, is far from the first 7th district candidate to make it onto the “Red to Blue” list. Tom Malinowski was put on the list in April 2018, seven months before he unseated Rep. Leonard Lance; also on the list at various points were 2006/2008 nominee Linda Stender and 2024 nominee Sue Altman, while 2012 nominee Upendra Chivukula was added to a lower-tier “races to watch” list.