Former Navy pilot Rebecca Bennett has emerged victorious among four Democratic candidates vying to unseat Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) in a key battleground district that could determine control of the House.
The Associated Press called the race at 8:56 p.m. ET, with Bennet carrying 47.8 percent of the vote, more than 27 points ahead of the second-placed candidate.
Democrats are eyeing the seat as ripe for pickup, with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report ranking the district as a "toss-up."
CD 7 spans Northern and Central New Jersey, including municipalities in Hunterdon County and Warren County, as well as parts of Union, Somerset, Morris, and Sussex counties. President Donald Trump narrowly won the district with 49.6 percent of the vote to 48.5 percent for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Kean has been absent from Congress for months. In late April, the congressman said he was dealing with a "personal medical issue" without providing specifics. Kean, whose father is former Republican New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean Sr., was unopposed in the Republican primary.
The Republican, in a statement on Tuesday, said he will transition from virtual to in-person work "within a matter of weeks," adding that he will reveal details of his condition then.
President Donald Trump on Monday, in a Truth Social post, endorsed Kean, calling him a "Tremendous Advocate of our America First Agenda."
During a May 11 debate, Bennett called the incumbent a "coward" and vowed to hold Kean "accountable."
“Here’s the thing,” Bennett said. “We can’t just be anti-Trump. ... We have to be for something. We have to solve the problems we are all facing in our everyday lives. That means tackling our cost of living crisis, making our health care system work for all of us, and protecting our rights and freedoms.”
Other candidates included Dr. Tina Shah, an intensive care unit physician and former White House adviser under President Barack Obama; Michael Roth, an interim senior official at the Small Business Administration under President Joe Biden; and business owner Brian Varela.
Roth had called for a shift toward rewarding work, restoring people’s faith in democracy, protecting the world that children will inherit, and returning power to the people.
“For 15 years, I’ve built organizations that have done exactly that,” Roth said during the debate. “An employee-owned business, training programs for better-paying clean energy jobs, a nonprofit that’s helped thousands of nurses, teachers, and first responders affording their first homes.”
Varela cast himself as a grassroots fighter for those who feel they’ve been left behind by the system. He proposed dismantling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and emphasized the spiraling costs of housing and groceries.
“The fact that we are paying the most per capita amongst developed nations for healthcare and somehow have one of the worst qualities of care is something that baffles me,” Varela said. “So I want to fight for Medicare for All and anything in the process that will move us in that direction to lower the cost of healthcare while improving the quality of care. And last, but definitely not least, I want to fight to defend our democracy.”
Shah was first appointed by Obama to work on policy solutions at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“I’ve dedicated my career to fixing broken systems in the ICU, in Washington D.C., and right here in New Jersey through advocacy,” Shah said. “I am going to work as your member of Congress to fix our broken health care system, to lower costs, to protect our democracy, and restore our shrinking middle class.”