New Jersey 7th Congressional District
The 2026 battle for control of the U.S. House of Representatives will come down to a handful of "toss-up" contests - including here in NJ7. The Democratic candidate will be chosen in the June 2 primary, and will run against incumbent Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in the Nov. 3 election.
Learn about the
Democratic candidates
Rebecca Bennett
Former Navy pilot, healthcare leader, mom of two.
Top priorities: Holding the current administration accountable; affordability; national security. (Read more)
Michael Roth
Interim leader of SBA under President Biden
Top priorities: Tax changes to favor working- and middle-class, affordable housing, modern economy (Read more)
Tina Shah
ICU physician, advisor to Obama & Biden admins.
Top Priorities: Affordability; access to high quality health care; repeal of Trump's costly tariffs. (Read more)
Brian Varela
Childcare business owner
Top priorities: Lowering costs for working families, protecting healthcare access, defending democracy. (Read more)
Videos: Candidate interviews and forums
NEW: The candidates participated in two debates on May 11 and 12. Click to watch them on YouTube.
5/11: League of Women Voters Morris Area / New Jersey Hills Media Group debate
5/12: New Jersey Globe/Rider University debate
OneNJ7 conducted interviews last Fall with the candidates for the Democratic nomination. We asked each a series of general questions about their campaigns and their top issues.
See them here and on our YouTube channel.
Rebecca Bennett
Tina Shah
Michael Roth
Brian Varela
The candidates on the issues
Our partners at Indivisible Lambertville-New Hope sent an extensive questionnare to each of the Democratic candidates. The "Top Priorities" listed above were drawn from the candidates' answers to the first question, and the "Read more" links go to their full responses.
ILNH also assembled a panel of reviewers who assessed the answers and scored them in relation to the organization's core values. Find the scorecards here.
