Greg Vartan jumps into 7th congressional district race

Summit Council President Greg Vartan officially launched his campaign for New Jersey’s highly competitive 7th congressional district this morning, making him one of three Democrats seeking to take on freshman Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield).

“I think there is an emergency in Washington D.C.,” Vartan told the New Jersey Globe. “I’ve been responding to emergencies for almost my whole life, first as an EMT here in my hometown and then as a local elected official. I’m from this district, I understand this district, and I think that I’m the best person to take on Kean and help Democrats win back the House.”

Vartan said that his campaign would focus on a few core issues: making New Jersey more affordable, repealing the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap, ensuring abortion remains fully legal, and protecting democracy in the United States and abroad. On each issue, he said, Kean has failed to stand up for his constituents in the 7th district.

“[Kean has] shown through his votes that he is not a moderate,” Vartan said. “He has enabled extremists like Jim Jordan and Mike Johnson, who want to ban abortion and have worked to undermine our democracy – which tells me that Tom Kean either doesn’t understand the values of the district or he isn’t able to stand up for them.”

Kean first won the 7th district in 2022, unseating Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) in a close and extremely expensive race. Both parties anticipate that the district will once again be highly competitive in 2024; much like in last year’s race, it could even be one of the most pivotal seats in determining who controls the entire House of Representatives.

To reach the general election against Kean at all, Vartan will need to beat two formidable Democratic primary foes: Sue Altman, the former New Jersey state director of the Working Families Party, and Jason Blazakis, a former counterterrorism official at the U.S. Department of State.

Altman and Blazakis have both been in the race for months and have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, with Altman being the clear fundraising leader thus far. They’ve also been able to spend the last few months making inroads with party leaders across the 7th district; Vartan likely has some connections already, but he’s been preoccupied this fall with working – unsuccessfully – to keep local offices in Summit blue.

But Vartan possesses several advantages that neither Altman nor Blazakis have. For one, he’s from Union County, potentially giving him a better chance of winning the all-important county line in the towns that make up the largest share of Democratic primary votes in the district. And for another, he’s run for office before, flipping a Republican-held seat on the Summit Common Council in 2018 and winning re-election in 2021.

“I’m the only person in the race that’s actually faced the voters in the district and has won elections,” Vartan said. “And I think I’ve proven that I have a track record of getting things done in government. I’m ready to take that to a larger stage.”

The 30-year-old Vartan would be New Jersey’s youngest member of Congress by a substantial margin, which he said gives him a unique perspective on the issues facing younger voters in the 7th district.

“There are some generational differences when it comes to the issues that we’re going to be facing as a nation,” he said, highlighting student loans and gun control in particular. “For me, as a younger person, I’m hopeful that I can appeal to younger voters that want to see a change in Washington D.C. and want to see a government that actually functions.”

Vartan has assembled a campaign team that includes Justin Myers, a former executive director of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee and the campaign manager for Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) during the congressman’s successful 2012 primary battle against fellow Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Englewood); Fred Yang, a top Democratic pollster who is also currently working on Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop’s gubernatorial campaign; and Andy Meyer, Mark Bergman, and Adnaan Muslim.

Although the Democratic primary isn’t for another seven months, Vartan will need to hit the ground running almost immediately to establish himself as a serious contender. The next campaign finance reporting deadline is on December 31, giving Vartan a month and a half to prove his fundraising abilities; then, Hunterdon County Democrats will meet in early February to decide on their county line, kicking off county convention season.

Vartan has a daunting task ahead of him, but he said that the discussions he’s had so far with party leaders and with voters have convinced him that this is his moment.

“The conversations that I’ve had have been largely encouraging,” he said. “People are looking for somebody who can beat Tom Kean. That is ultimately the goal here: beat Tom Kean, take back the House… People are on the same page that we need a Democratic candidate that has the ability to go and win this election.”