Former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett has been steadily raising huge amounts of money since launching her campaign for New Jersey’s 7th congressional district 11 months ago, and the 4th quarter of 2025 was her best fundraising period yet.
Bennett announced today that she raised $550,000 between October and December of last year, putting her at just over $1.9 million raised in total. As of the end of the year, and with a little over five months to go until the Democratic primary, her campaign account had more than $1.1 million on hand.
“I’m deeply grateful for the extraordinary support behind our campaign to flip NJ-07 and deliver real results for our community,” Bennett said in a statement. “We have the grassroots energy, the resources, and the vision to win this seat and deliver results for New Jersey families.”
Bennett is locked in a crowded Democratic primary for the right to take on Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), but she and two other contenders, physician Tina Shah and businessman Brian Varela, have seemingly begun to break away from the pack in fundraising. Shah announced earlier this week that she’s raised just over $1 million since entering the race in July; Varela hit the $1 million milestone during the 3rd quarter, though more than half of that was self-funded.
Varela and the bevy of other Democrats seeking the nomination have not yet announced their 4th quarter numbers, and nor has Kean, who had stockpiled close to $2 million as of the end of last quarter. Candidates won’t be required to submit their reports until the end of January.
All told, the 7th district contest has witnessed an unprecedented flood of money compared to past New Jersey election cycles. It used to be a remarkable event for a non-incumbent congressional candidate to hit $1 million raised in an off year, but three candidates have already done it in this year’s 7th district race; at this point in 2024, eventual Democratic nominee Sue Altman, herself a very strong fundraiser, had raised just under $800,000.
That could be a sign of enthusiasm among Democrats, or at least among Democratic donors, about the prospect of flipping the 7th district this year. The suburban district has hosted competitive elections every cycle since 2018, narrowly voting for Donald Trump in 2024 and for Mikie Sherrill in 2025.
