Greetings all. Excited to introduce you a great candidate candidate today - Rebecca Bennett - Navy pilot, Wharton MBA, health care innovator, Mom, and after she wins in November a Member of Congress from New Jersey’s 7th District. A video recording of a new conversation I just had with her and rough transcript can be found above.
NJ-7 is one the most Democratic leaning districts currently held by a Republican. Biden won it by 4 in 2020, Trump won it by 1 in 2024 (Downballot), and Cook has it as a +1 GOP district. As they have all across the country things have shifted towards the Democrats in New Jersey since 2024 when Harris won by 6 points. Governor Mikie Sherrill won her governor’s race last November by 14 points, 57%-43%, 8 points better than Harris and about the same movement we’ve seen in the generic ballot nationally since the 2024 election.
So if the national environment has shifted 8+ points since 2024 NJ-7 becomes one of our prime pick up opportunities. This is particularly true right now since the incumbent, Rep. Tom Kean Jr, who has regularly run above the national Republican brand, has failed to show up for work and not been seen in public for months.
From my conversation with Bennett:
So the incumbent is a two-term incumbent Republican — a guy named Tom Kean Jr… you know, he just hasn't done anything. He really has not shown up for the district. And you all might have heard about it in the news recently because he's been missing since the beginning of March.
I wish him well — he's shared he has a medical condition, so I hope he has a speedy recovery. But he's absolutely failing this district. He was the deciding vote on the one big beautiful bill, which is why tens of thousands of people in our district are losing access to their health insurance. They're trying to put an ICE detention facility in our district… he was nowhere to be found when we were trying to keep that from going in. Also, we are seeing issues with infrastructure and transportation in our district. [Kean] is not standing up and not fighting back for us. So we are going to flip this seat in November.
We are endorsing Rebecca Bennett today because House Republicans are so concerned with her flipping this seat have spent more than $650,000 attacking her in just the past two weeks. Here’s how the New Jersey Globe has covered these attacks:
Last week, a brand-new group called Real Change PAC suddenly dropped more than $575,000 on ads and mailers claiming Bennett is insufficiently progressive and encouraging primary voters to instead support two of her opponents, Tina Shah and Brian Varela. The PAC was formed on May 11 with a Nebraska address and won’t have to report its donors until after the June 2 primary, so its reasons for getting involved in the race remain unknown.
There’s substantial reason to believe, though, that the PAC is a front for the GOP, which has cobbled together several independent expenditure groups to spend in Democratic primaries around the country and hobble would-be frontrunners. The footage used in the ad was previously promoted by a top Republican super PAC, and the consulting firm paid by the PAC shares an address with the firm utilized by a different meddling PAC, Lead Left PAC, that has been more conclusively linked to the GOP.
Here’s the ad Bennett put up in response to these heavily funded attacks:
Yes these attacks on Bennett are part of that illicit new strategy of the Rs to knock out our strongest candidate in ongoing Democratic primaries to make it more likely they retain these battleground districts (for more on this illicit campaign see my new interview with the DCCC’s Will Van Nuys and this terrific new article, A GOP dirty tricks operation, exposed, from Judd Legum). Bob Brooks was able to overcome big GOP spend to win PA-7 last week; with our help Johnny Garcia was able to prevail in Texas 35 this week despite enormous spend against him; and now we need to get this very impressive candidate through her primary next Tuesday where she will likely become the immediate frontrunner in the race.
Remember the only reason Republicans are attacking these candidates is that their polling and research suggest they are far more likely to lose the seat if the candidates they attacking win. And in each of these races the Republicans are spending a lot of money in a very short period of time. These big, aggressive buys are a sign of how worried the Republicans are of losing this November.
You can give to Rebecca Bennett through our new dedicated ActBlue page. We are aiming to raise $10,000 in the home stretch here and help her enter the general election with momentum next week.
This remarkable community just rallied for Johnny Garcia in TX-35 and helped him win. Now let’s rally for Rebecca Bennett, one of most impressive House candidates of the cycle, and help her win on Tuesday and flip NJ-7 this November!
Yes, we can do this people! - Simon
Bio - Rebecca Bennett, Navy Pilot, Healthcare Leader, Mom, And US House Candidate Running In NJ-07
A former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, officer in the Air National Guard, business leader in healthcare, and mom of two – Rebecca Bennett has always valued service.
Rebecca served in the Navy for over a decade as a helicopter pilot and aircraft commander. While in the service, she earned her M.B.A., with honors, from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, and started her family. Now she is a recognized business leader, working with mission-driven startups to advance healthcare opportunities for all Americans.
After serving her country for over fifteen years in the military and making waves in healthcare innovation, Rebecca is running for Congress to build a better future for our community. As a mom to two young girls, Rebecca understands first-hand the challenges of balancing work & family while navigating inflation and the rising cost of living.
So Rebecca is stepping up to bring a new kind of leadership to Washington. She’s not interested in scoring political points—she simply wants to make the country a better place for her family and yours.
Learn more about Rebecca here.
