In crowded NJ-7 primary, Dem hopefuls swear off corporate PAC donations

Back in 2018, when Democrats were angling to take control of the House of Representatives, lots of swing-district Democratic congressional candidates – including two from New Jersey who ended up winning – made pledges not to take any campaign money from corporate PACs, the committees that corporations use to donate to political candidates and promote their interests. For voters to trust them, they argued, they needed to be free from financial entanglements with big business.

Eight years later, Democrats are once again hoping to take back the House majority, and the Democratic candidates in New Jersey’s most competitive congressional seat are sticking to a similar promise.

All eight Democrats running for the state’s 7th district – climate scientist Megan O’Rourke, attorney Vale Mendoza, physician Tina Shah, criminal justice professor Beth Adubato, former Small Business Administration official Michael Roth, businessman Brian Varela, former Summit Councilman Greg Vartan, and former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett – told the New Jersey Globe that their campaigns won’t take corporate PAC contributions.

“When politicians accept corporate PAC money, they can become beholden to corporate special interests instead of the people they’re supposed to represent,” Varela said. “By rejecting corporate PAC contributions, I’m ensuring that my only obligation is to the voters of New Jersey’s 7th District. Politics should be about serving people, not the highest bidder.”

“I have never taken corporate PAC money, and never will,” Roth said. “My campaign, like my whole career, is built on serving small businesses and working families in this district… I want people to know I work for them, not special interests.”

(The one candidate who left some wiggle room was Adubato, who said that if a donation came from a “woman-owned corporation that does great things, then maybe I would consider it.”)

The Democratic field’s shared stance is a notable commonality in a contest divided by ideology and background, and could serve as a good-government rallying cry as Democrats try to flip the district. But an Atlantic article from 2018 – when no-corporate-PAC pledges first went mainstream – noted that such commitments may be “mostly symbolic” for now, since corporate PACs don’t typically donate to non-incumbent congressional challengers, and would likely only become meaningful if one of the NJ-7 Democrats wins next November and chooses to stick to their pledge.

Democrats can still contrast their promise with the district’s incumbent congressman, Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), who like most Republican politicians has declined to take any kind of similar anti-corporate-money stance. Especially since joining the influential House Energy & Commerce Committee at the beginning of this year, Kean’s fundraising reports have featured plenty of donations from companies like Samsung, Johnson & Johnson, and Google.

Kean has accused Democrats of hypocrisy on the issue, saying that his opponents claim to swear off PAC money but are still willing to accept contributions from individual corporate leaders and benefit from super PAC spending that is, in turn, funded by corporations. That’s a charge Kean leveled at Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) during their first race in 2020, and it’s one his campaign is now repeating against the new wave of Democratic foes.

“How many NJ-07 Democrat candidates will commit to refusing support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee or the House Majority PAC? None,” said Kean spokesperson Harrison Neely, referring to two pro-Democratic groups that spend millions on House races every cycle. (Candidates are barred from directly coordinating with most outside groups, and thus have little control over how those groups raise their money or what they choose to do on their behalf.)