CBS, AP Call Rebecca Bennett Winner Over Tom Kean in NJ-7

CBS News on Tuesday projected Democrat Rebecca Bennett the winner in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, unseating two-term Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr., a race the Associated Press also called the same night, FOX 5 New York and The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

NBC News, citing Associated Press vote data, showed Bennett with 57.1% to Kean’s 41.3%, with independent Seamus O’Toole at 1.5%, and about 94.7% of expected votes counted in a districtwide total of 327,877 ballots. The Philadelphia Inquirer said Bennett claimed victory just before 10 p.m. at the Bridgewater Manor and that Kean congratulated her by phone and expressed a commitment to a peaceful transfer of power, which ABC7 New York also reported.

Candidates and the seat

Bennett, 39, is a former Navy helicopter pilot and health technology executive who has never held elected office, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. FOX 5 New York said she served 15 years in the military, including as an experimental test pilot and later in the Air National Guard. Kean, a former state lawmaker and the son of former Gov. Thomas H. Kean, won the seat in 2022 by defeating Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski and was seeking a third term, CBS News reported. The district covers Hunterdon and Warren counties and parts of Morris, Somerset, Sussex and Union, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Health leave and money

CBS News said Kean missed months of House votes earlier in the year while being treated for depression and did not disclose the diagnosis or hospitalization until he returned to Washington in late June. Bennett reported raising about $3.9 million from July through September compared with less than $1 million for Kean in the same period, and nearly $8.2 million for the cycle to Kean’s nearly $5.9 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings cited by CBS News. The Philadelphia Inquirer put Kean’s cycle haul at $5.8 million, including $4.2 million from the Congressional Leadership Fund, whose support ended about a month before Election Day as House Republicans shifted resources elsewhere; CBS News said the super PAC moved money away from Kean’s race weeks before the vote.

Developing: New Jersey’s official NJ-7 canvass and certification remain unfinished while remaining ballots are processed, with NBC News estimating roughly 5% of expected votes still outstanding.

Sources: CBS News, FOX 5 New York, The Philadelphia Inquirer, NBC News, ABC7 New York, Associated Press