Varela surpasses $1 million raised, with help from self-funding, for NJ-7 campaign

Businessman Brian Varela’s campaign for New Jersey’s 7th congressional district raised $308,000 in the 3rd quarter of 2025, keeping him in the upper echelons of the swing district’s Democratic primary – though $200,000 of his quarterly fundraising total came from his own pockets.

In total, Varela has raised just over $1 million since launching his campaign in April, around 60% of which was self-funded; his campaign had more than $800,000 on-hand as of the end of September.

“I’m proud that this campaign is powered by people – not corporate PACs,” Varela said in a statement. “We’ve built it from the ground up with over 1,300 individual contributions just last quarter, and a median contribution of only $10. That’s proof that everyday people believe in this fight – and we’re not backing down. We now have the resources to go toe-to-toe in one of the toughest and most expensive media markets in the country, and we’re just getting started.”

Varela is the second Democratic candidate in the 7th district’s Democratic primary to surpass $1 million in fundraising; he’s also the only one of the eight contenders to put a substantial amount of his own money into his campaign.

The best-funded candidate in the race thus far is former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett, who has raised more than $1.3 million over the course of eight months of campaigning, including $475,000 in the 3rd quarter. Physician Tina Shah raised $600,000 and climate scientist Megan O’Rourke raised $247,000 in the 3rd quarter; both entered the race during the quarter.

Four other contenders – former Small Business Administration official Michael Roth, former Summit Councilman Greg Vartan, attorney Vale Mendoza, and criminal justice professor Beth Adubato – have not yet released their most recent fundraising numbers. Roth had raised $303,000 and Vartan had raised $157,000 as of June, while Mendoza and Adubato are newer entrants and haven’t filed any reports yet.

The winner of the Democratic primary will go up against Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), who has raised $2.6 million since the start of the year and will undoubtedly force Democrats to spend millions of dollars against him if they want to unseat him.

For now, though, the chief goal of the eight Democrats in the 7th district is not to beat Kean, but to beat each other. That means proving to local and national Democrats that they can raise the money necessary to run a serious campaign; the money they raise might not be used for months to come, but it will still serve as a key distinguishing factor between the candidates as Democrats decide who to nominate.