Vartan raises $56k, but says he refuses to be ‘priced out of this campaign’

Former Summit Councilman Greg Vartan raised $55,751 in the second quarter of 2025, bringing his total fundraising in five months that he’s been running for New Jersey’s competitive 7th congressional district to $157,021.

That’s far less than any of his Democratic primary opponents – former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett, businessman Brian Varela, former Small Business Administration official Michael Roth, and physician Tina Shah – have brought in thus far, making Vartan an early underdog in the race to take on Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield). Vartan, though, said that his campaign will be undeterred by its financial disadvantage.

“I was born, raised, and elected twice here,” he said in a statement. “Part of the reason I’m running is because my wife and I both have good jobs, work hard, and give back to the community but are essentially priced out of the district. I refuse to be priced out of this campaign.”

Vartan ended the quarter with $78,980 on-hand.

Of the five leading Democratic contenders for the seat, Vartan is the only one who’s held elected office before. He served as a Summit councilman for six years and continues to be the municipal Democratic chairman there; he ran for the 7th district once before in 2024, but dropped out before the primary.

Vartan is also the only Democratic candidate thus far to directly criticize his opponents in what has otherwise been a largely peaceful race. In a campaign video last month, Vartan accused three of his fellow Democrats of being carpetbaggers, saying that only he truly represented 7th district voters; Varela and Roth both moved to the district in the last couple of years, while Bennett lived just outside of it at the time (she’s since moved from Montgomery to Bridgewater, which is squarely in the district).

But Vartan will have trouble getting that message out into the world if the present fundraising disparity continues. Bennett has raised $913,847 for her campaign so far, Varela $693,883 (with the help of $400,000 in self-funding), and Roth $302,880; Shah entered the race after the Q2 filing deadline, but she announced that she raised more than $260,000 in just one day as a candidate.

Kean, who is the lone New Jersey Republican on Democrats’ initial 2026 target list, raised $931,676 of his own during the second quarter, and he ended June with a formidable $1,509,019 warchest to take on whichever Democrat ends up facing him.

The 7th district – which spans Union, Somerset, Hunterdon, Morris, Warren, and Sussex Counties – voted for Donald Trump by a 49% to 48% margin last year, making it one of the most evenly divided districts in the country.