Rebecca Bennett raises another $480k as NJ-7 primary heats up

U.S. Navy veteran Rebecca Bennett, among the top contenders in the increasingly crowded Democratic primary to take on Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), raised more than $480,000 in the 2nd quarter of 2025, another hefty sum for the first-time candidate.

Put together with the $427,000 she raised in the first quarter of 2025, Bennett’s total fundraising for her congressional campaign now stands at more than $900,000. She had almost $700,000 still on-hand as of the end of July, her campaign said.

“The continued groundswell of support Rebecca has received in support of her campaign makes it clear that she will have the resources needed to flip this district in 2026, and give New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District a Representative who actually understands what families are going through,” Bennett campaign manager Nick Marroletti said. “This race will be pivotal to flip the House next November, and Tom Kean Jr.’s decisive vote to strip thousands of his own constituents of their healthcare and balloon our national debt proves that it’s time to retire Kean in 2026.”

Bennett, who flew helicopters in the Navy before moving to New Jersey and entering the health care industry, was the first Democrat to announce a campaign for the 7th congressional district, one of the nation’s most evenly divided districts. She’s since been joined by four other serious contenders, making for a busy and potentially expensive primary that’s tough to handicap.

So far only one of her opponents, businessman Brian Varela, has announced his own second quarter fundraising numbers. Varela, who previously ran for a different New Jersey House district in 2022, raised $700,000 during his first three months in the race, around half of which was self-funded.

Another two candidates, former Small Business Administration official Michael Roth and physician Tina Shah, both announced what they raised during their first day in the race: $175,000 for Roth, $260,000 for Shah. Roth has yet to file his Q2 report, while Shah entered the race just last week after the quarter had already ended, meaning that her first report won’t be available until October.

Former Summit Councilman Greg Vartan raised $101,000 during the first quarter, and he too has not yet filed reports from the second quarter. Criminal justice professor Beth Adubato told the New Jersey Globe in May that she planned on joining the race later this year, but she hasn’t taken any public steps towards setting up a campaign since then.

All of them are competing for the right to take on Kean, a two-term GOP congressman who got to office after unseating Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) in 2022. Kean, long a strong fundraiser, hasn’t released Q2 numbers yet but had nearly $800,000 on-hand at the end of the first quarter.

The 7th district, a sprawling suburban district spanning from the Arthur Kill to the Delaware River, voted narrowly for now-President Donald Trump last year, 49% to 48%. That made it one of the closest districts in the nation, though Kean won re-election 52% to 46% after an expensive contest against Democrat Sue Altman; Democrats have added Kean to their target list once again for 2026, and it’s widely expected that Kean will face another tough fight against whichever Democrat emerges from the primary.