Rebecca Bennett wins Democratic primary for NJ House district held by absent GOP Rep. Tom Kean

Former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett emerged victorious Tuesday in the Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, which is represented by mysteriously absent GOP Rep.Tom Kean.Bennett, 37, topped three other Democratic candidates to win the nomination for a seat that the party views as one of its best pickup opportunities in the Nov.

3 midterms.“NJ-07 deserves a representative who actually shows up for every family,” Bennett wrote in a Substack post on the eve of election night.“If I have the honor of representing this district, I want you all to know that I will wake up every day and work harder than I have ever worked, in my entire life, to fight for you and your family as hard as I fight for my own kids.We are carrying this fight to November.

I’m ready, and I know you are too.” Bennett, who served in the armed forces for more than 15 years as a helicopter pilot, experimental test pilot, aircraft commander and member of the Air National Guard, was the heavy favorite heading into the election – with several polls showing her with double-digit leads over her rivals. “I’ve fought for and defended this country before, and I’m ready to do it again,” Bennett said in a recent TV ad, which touts her as “the only Democrat who can stop Donald Trump.”Bennett, a graduate of Cornell and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania,  raised more than $2.6 million for her primary campaign, outpacing all her Democratic competitors.Bennett has made the rising cost of living her main issue on the campaign trail and has pledged to work to undo Trump’s tax cuts as a means of addressing affordability concerns. Voters in the expansive 7th District, which included Trump’s Bedminster country club, went for the president over former Vice President Kamala Harris by two percentage points in the 2024 presidential election – but backed Democratic Gov.Mikie Sherrill over Republican Jack Ciattarelli by the same margin in ...