Shah loans campaign $650k as NJ-7 primary enters final months

Tina Shah’s campaign to win the Democratic nomination in New Jersey’s 7th district is relying on appealing directly to the voters of the district via advertising, and she personally is making sure her campaign has the funds to make it happen.

Shah, a practicing physician, announced today that she raised around $960,000 in the 1st quarter of 2026; $650,000 of that total, or just over two-thirds, was self-funded, while the remainder came from donors. 

Overall, Shah has raised just under $2 million since entering the race last summer, and ended the 1st quarter with $1.4 million on-hand.

“I could not be more proud that we have built a campaign that has the resources to flip this seat and defeat Tom Kean Jr, as we near primary day,” Shah said in a statement. “We know that we have the best message to reach voters across NJ-7 and stop Donald Trump’s assault on our Democracy and our economy.”

Of the four Democrats seeking the seat currently held by Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), three have relied extensively on self-funding: businessman Brian Varela had loaned his own campaign more than $1 million as of the end of 2025, making up a majority of his overall fundraising, while former Small Business Administration official Michael Roth gave his campaign $400,000 earlier this year.

The one candidate who has not engaged in any self-funding is Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett, who also happens to be the field’s most prolific fundraiser. Bennett recently announced that she’s raised $2.7 million since launching her campaign, including more than $700,000 in the last three months.

Bennett is also the consensus choice among much of the 7th district’s Democratic establishment, winning party support in four counties that account for more than four-fifths of the district’s Democratic primary vote. Her three competitors argue that voters will be interested in what they have to offer instead – Shah released an internal poll to that effect in March – but they’ll likely have to spend quite a bit of money to break through.