Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot and healthcare executive, has won the Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, NBC News projects, setting up a general election campaign against Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr.
Bennett defeated physician Tina Shah, former Small Business Administration official Michael Roth and business owner Brian Varela for the Democratic nomination. Now, she will take on Kean in a district that Trump carried by just 1 percentage point in 2024, making it one of the most tightly divided districts in the country.
Kean, who was first elected in 2022 and was unopposed in the Republican primary, won re-election by more than 5 points in 2024, running ahead of Trump.
Kean has not voted in the Capitol or been seen in public since March 5 because of what his office describes as a “personal medical issue.” Yesterday, he said in a statement that he will return to the Capitol “within a matter of weeks,” when, he said, he will be “completely transparent as to the nature of my medical condition.”