The Democratic primary to challenge Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) in the 7th congressional district has been stable for several months, but it’s getting a late entrant who could shake things up: Somerset County Commissioner Sara Sooy (D-Bedminster).
The 33-year-old Sooy is the ninth Democrat to enter the race against Kean, a top Democratic target in 2026. And while she’ll have some work to do to catch up to many of her primary opponents, her status as the only countywide elected official in the race and her political connections in Somerset County, which makes up around one-fifth of the 7th district’s electorate, are likely to instantly make her a serious contender.
“I have been serving the community in Somerset County for over ten years, and I trust that my experience and the relationships that I’ve been building, the work that I’ve done, will resonate,” Sooy told the New Jersey Globe. “And I’ll be able to be a formidable opponent.”
The 33-year-old Sooy, the daughter of former Bernardsville Mayor Kevin Sooy, got a remarkably early start in politics, joining her local school board at the age of 22. In 2018, Sooy was part of Somerset Democrats’ effort to flip seats on the county board of freeholders for the first time since 1979 – and she won, ousting a GOP incumbent and becoming the first Latina to ever serve on the board. (Sooy’s mother is an immigrant from Ecuador.)
Democrats flipped control of the board the following year, and have gone on an unbroken streak in Somerset County elections since then. Sooy came close to losing re-election in 2021, but pulled out an 842-vote win.
In all three of her freeholder and commissioner elections, Sooy has run alongside Shanel Robinson (D-Franklin), now the board’s director. Robinson is making her own run for Congress next year, announcing last week that she’ll run to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) in the neighboring 12th congressional district.
Like Robinson, Sooy said she’s ready to take her county-level service to the national stage. She emphasized many of the issues that Democrats around the state and country are running on – lowering costs, protecting the Gateway Project, fighting back against the mean-spirited rhetoric coming out of Washington – and faulted Kean for failing to stand up to his party.
“I think that his silence is complacency,” Sooy said. “You’re supposed to be a voice for all people, and not just vote the party line and toe everything that the leadership tells you to do… Our service, it’s much more hands-on. We don’t just show up to pose for a picture.”
Sooy’s entrance to the 7th district field is unexpected enough that it’s hard to say how her candidacy will change the race. The eight Democrats already running have been jockeying amongst each other for months, garnering endorsements and raising extraordinary amounts of money; the best-funded among them are former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett, physician Tina Shah, and businessman Brian Varela.
Sooy, though, brings an advantage that none of them have: a proven history of winning votes from a large number of 7th district voters. Among her eight opponents, only one – former Summit Councilman Greg Vartan – has held elected office before, and his 7th district constituency is around one-eighth the size of Sooy’s.
Sooy said that she’s already had conversations with party leaders in New Jersey and national Democrats in Washington; her deepest well of support is likely to come from Somerset County, but she said all of those she’s spoken with “are eager to see how this changes the playing field and this primary.”
Regardless of who they nominate, Democrats are in for a difficult race against Kean, who defeated Rep. Tom Malinowski to flip the 7th district red in 2022 and held it by a larger margin in 2024. The sprawling, mostly suburban district is historically very Republican turf, and Kean has a long history of overperforming the GOP brand.
But in this month’s gubernatorial race, Mikie Sherrill was able to narrowly carry the district, four years after Phil Murphy lost it by more than 12 points. That’s given Democrats renewed hope about the possibility of flipping the seat, which could become a critical part of their road back to the majority – and Sooy said she’s prepared to take up that cause.
“I ran [for county commissioner] before it was popular, and was able to flip a seat, along with Shanel Robinson, in Somerset County when no one thought we could,” Sooy said. “This is, I would say, a very comparable race. We see the numbers trending, we see the opportunity, but you have to know your backyard.”
