A powerful conservative group aligned with House Republican leaders is spending nearly $1 million in two New Jersey congressional districts as part of a massive summer advertising campaign aimed at preserving the GOP’s narrow House majority.
The American Action Network, a 501(c)(4) issue advocacy organization affiliated with the Congressional Leadership Fund, will run broadcast, digital and direct-mail advertisements in the 7th and 9th congressional districts through September 3.
The larger share is expected to go to the 7th district, where two-term Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) faces Democrat Rebecca Bennett, a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, in one of the nation’s most competitive House races. The group did not provide a district-by-district breakdown.
An advertisement supporting Kean focuses exclusively on his role in securing an increase in the federal deduction for state and local taxes, known as SALT, as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress last year.
“Property taxes in New Jersey are too high, and you paid the price twice — because Washington didn’t recognize your state taxes,” the narrator says. “Tom Kean led the fight to quadruple the SALT deduction.”
The ad, built around a series of mostly black-and-white press clippings with an old newspaper look, calls restoring the deduction Kean’s “priority number one” and says he “took on both parties to bring real tax relief for New Jersey families.”
It concludes by asking voters to call Kean, thank him “for putting New Jersey first,” and urge him to continue voting for working families.
Kean was among a group of New York and New Jersey Republicans who threatened to withhold their votes from the legislation unless GOP leaders increased the $10,000 SALT cap enacted during President Donald Trump’s first term. The final bill temporarily raised the cap to $40,000, with income-based limitations for higher-earning households.
Democrats have argued that One Big Beautiful Bill provides disproportionate benefits to wealthy taxpayers and corporations while making reductions elsewhere in the federal safety net. Republicans have promoted the measure as the “Working Families Tax Cut,” highlighting provisions that reduce taxes on tips and overtime and offer additional tax relief to some Social Security recipients.
The campaign also reaches into the Democratic-held 9th district, where freshman Rep. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon) is favored against Republican Rosie Pino, a Clifton councilwoman.
Pou’s inclusion suggests that national Republicans continue to view the heavily Democratic district as at least potentially competitive. Pou won her first House term in 2024 after the death of Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-Paterson) by five percentage points and now must defend the seat in a midterm of a president who won New Jersey’s 9th
Congressional Leadership Fund is the super PAC endorsed by House Speaker Mike Johnson and other members of the House Republican leadership, while American Action Network operates as its policy-focused sister organization. Unlike a super PAC, the nonprofit is not generally required to publicly disclose its donors.
American Action Network included Kean among 23 Republican incumbents it is supporting and Pou among 18 Democratic House members it is targeting.
The two groups share a president, Chris Winkelman.
The New Jersey expenditure is part of a new $22 million campaign across 41 congressional districts. The advertising began Thursday and will continue for three weeks, bringing the organization’s total spending during the current Congress to a record $62 million.
The campaign will combine television, digital, and direct-mail advertising. Its messaging contrasts Republican support for the tax law with Democratic opposition while attacking Democrats over federal spending and gender-affirming medical care for minors.
“Conservatives put working families first by delivering historic tax relief,” Winkelman said. “Meanwhile, far-left lawmakers are obsessed with radical ideas — like raising your taxes and making you pay for sex-change surgeries for kids.”
Winkelman said the organization would continue highlighting policies it considers “bad for your wallet and wrong for American families.”
The spending is classified as issue advocacy rather than an independent expenditure expressly urging voters to elect or defeat a candidate. But by praising Kean and asking constituents to contact him while criticizing Pou and other vulnerable Democrats less than three months before the election, the campaign provides an early outside-air-support operation for House Republicans.
American Action Network’s $22 million buy comes on top of $40 million it says it has already spent promoting the Republican tax package. Its sister super PAC, Congressional Leadership Fund, had raised more than $163 million and held nearly $142 million in cash as of June 30, positioning the two organizations to play an enormous role in the battle for the House.
Script: “Property taxes in New Jersey are too high, and you paid the price twice — because Washington didn’t recognize your state taxes. Tom Kean led the fight to quadruple the SALT deduction. Restoring New Jersey’s property tax deduction was Kean’s priority number one. That’s why Tom Kean took on both parties to bring real tax relief for New Jersey families — and he delivered. Thank Tom Kean for putting New Jersey first, and tell him to keep voting for working families.”