VoteVets begins $200k pro-Bennett ad spend

Six weeks out from the Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 7th congressional district, the liberal veterans group VoteVets is going on the air urging voters to support former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett.

The ad from VoteVets, which endorsed Bennett shortly after she launched her campaign last year, features Jeff Lindbom, an Air National Guard officer who went to flight school with Bennett. VoteVets said the spot is backed by a $200,000 cable, streaming, and digital buy, and “further investments and additional ads may follow.”

“[Rebecca will] take on all the Trump corruption, shut down these illegal ICE raids, and end Trump’s reckless wars that are driving prices and squeezing the life out of the middle class,” Lindbom says in the ad. “I know what Rebecca Bennett does when the stakes get high. She has the courage to lead this fight.”

Bennett put out an ad of her own last week that similarly leans into her military background and life story – a story that’s helped her raise the most money of any Democrat running against Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) and win most of the district’s local party endorsements.

Three other Democrats (Tina Shah, Brian Varela, and Michael Roth) are also running for the closely divided district, and the Democratic primary is expected to remain competitive and expensive all the way through June 2, though it’s not clear whether anyone besides Bennett has an outside group willing to spend on their behalf.

This isn’t the first New Jersey race VoteVets has gotten involved in; the group is also allied with Gov. Mikie Sherrill, Senator Andy Kim, and Rep. Herb Conaway (D-Delran), supporting them and making expenditures in various past campaigns. (It doesn’t have an unblemished track record, though; earlier this year, VoteVets spent $300,000 boosting Zach Beecher, who ended up getting less than 2% of the vote in the Democratic primary for the 11th district.)

Script:
Jeff Lindbom: “So we’re flying over the Persian Gulf at night. I’m the new guy, in the co-pilot’s seat. The aircraft commander: Rebecca Bennett, who graduated flight school, top of her class. Rebecca will take that fighter’s edge to Washington – to take on all the Trump corruption, shut down these illegal ICE raids, and end Trump’s reckless wars that are driving prices and squeezing the life out of the middle class. I know what Rebecca Bennett does when the stakes get high. She has the courage to lead this fight.”