Who's running in New Jersey's 7th congressional district
3 candidates are on the ballot. Below is what each one says they stand for, what they have actually done in office or in public life, and the arguments published for and against them — each quoted from a named source rather than summarised by us.
Both campaigns accuse the other of profiting from the health care industry, and both candidates have ties to it — Kean through family stock holdings in Johnson & Johnson and Merck, Bennett through employment at Johnson & Johnson and shares she has since divested. Voters weighing this race are largely being asked to judge the same charge twice.
3 candidates · ballot order · Thomas H. Kean Jr. currently holds this seat
Medium confidenceMedium confidenceThe candidate's stated positions and basic record are documented, but coverage is thin — often little independent reporting, or criticism from only one side.What would raise it: More independent reporting, a documented voting record, or published criticism from a named opponent would raise this.
What they say they stand for
Their own words. Claims, not verified facts.
Lowering costs for households, which his campaign puts first.
Restoring the state and local tax deduction for high-tax New Jersey.
Access to health care and prescription drug affordability.
Infrastructure investment, including the Gateway rail tunnels.
Support for Israel.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
U.S. Representative for the 7th District since January 2023; re-elected in 2024 with 51.7%.
New Jersey state senator from 2003 to 2022 and Senate minority leader from 2008 to 2021; state assemblyman 2001–2003.
Son of Thomas Kean Sr., governor of New Jersey 1982–1990 and chair of the 9/11 Commission.
Absent from the House from March 5 to June 30, 2026, missing more than 140 votes; disclosed on his return that he had been hospitalised for clinical depression.
Voted in 2026 for the Stop Insider Trading Act.
Reported $4,542,250 raised for this race.
Won the June 2, 2026 Republican primary unopposed.
Arguments in favor
He has the full weight of the national and state party: President Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson, former governor Chris Christie, the National Republican Congressional Committee, the Hunterdon County Republican Organization, Americans for Tax Reform, the Log Cabin Republicans and the Republican Jewish Coalition.
— Endorsements from the officials and organisations named
He out-raised his opponent by more than a million and a half dollars and holds roughly $3.4 million in cash on hand against her $764,000 going into the autumn, in a district he has now won twice.
— Federal Election Commission filings reported by New Jersey Globe
Arguments against
He vanished from Congress for nearly four months without telling constituents why, missing more than 140 votes in a chamber with a narrow majority. Bennett's line during the absence — "Tom Kean Junior, wherever you are, you have failed this district" — became the frame for her campaign, and his own party publicly worried about the seat.
— Rebecca Bennett campaign; contemporaneous reporting by NPR, the Washington Post and Fox News
The DCCC argues he has consistently sided with drug makers while his family held between $215,000 and $665,000 in Johnson & Johnson and Merck stock: he opposed H.R. 3, which would let Medicare negotiate drug prices, and voted in committee against an amendment capping out-of-pocket insulin costs.
— Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
What we couldn’t verify
Bennett and the DCCC have also alleged that Kean traded stocks while hospitalised. Kean says his investable assets are managed by independent financial professionals without his input, prior knowledge or direction, and New Jersey Globe has described the personal-trading version of the claim as false. It is recorded here as a disputed allegation rather than as an argument.
How long the effects of his absence persist is not established. He resumed voting on June 30, 2026 and has continued campaigning.
Affordability — the cost of housing, groceries and health care.
Barring members of Congress from trading individual stocks.
Protecting access to abortion.
Veterans' issues, drawing on her Navy service.
Gun safety legislation.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
Former United States Navy helicopter pilot.
Health care executive; has worked at Johnson & Johnson, Oshi Health, Noom and Midi Health.
Won the June 2, 2026 Democratic primary against Michael Roth, Tina Shah and Brian Varela.
Has divested her pharmaceutical shareholdings and supports a ban on congressional stock trading.
Reported $2,944,138 raised for this race.
Has not held elected office.
Arguments in favor
She assembled the district's Democratic organisations — Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset and Union counties — the state AFL-CIO, the New Jersey Education Association, CWA District 1 and the firefighters' union, alongside EMILYs List, Giffords, End Citizens United, 314 Action and the DCCC.
— Endorsements from the county committees, unions and organisations named
Governor Mikie Sherrill and Pete Buttigieg endorsed her, as did a bloc of veteran members of Congress — Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Seth Moulton and Pat Ryan — and forecasters have moved the race from tossup toward her over the course of 2026.
Kean's first negative advertisement says she "made a fortune by denying people healthcare and putting profits over patients," pointing to her work at Johnson & Johnson, Oshi Health, Noom and Midi Health. New Jersey Globe notes none of the four is a health insurer, though each deals with insurers in some form.
— Tom Kean campaign advertisement, reported by New Jersey Globe
The NRCC calls her "a tax-and-spend liberal who worships the socialist Squad," and says property records show she rents in Bridgewater rather than owning there, despite the local roots her campaign emphasises.
— National Republican Congressional Committee
What we couldn’t verify
The NRCC also says she and national Democrats have made false claims about Kean's stock trading. That dispute is recorded under Kean rather than treated as a finding about either candidate.
The New Jersey State Building and Construction Trades Council declined to endorse in this race, breaking with the state AFL-CIO.
An end to United States military aid to Israel and to the war in Gaza, the issue his ballot slogan names.
Making the war a voting issue in a competitive district, which is the stated purpose of his candidacy.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
Filed 299 nominating petition signatures, 49 more than required.
A former local Democratic chairwoman challenged his petitions, represented by the Elias Law Group; the challenge failed and he remains on the ballot.
Appears on the ballot in all six counties of the district under the slogan "Stop Israel's Genocide."
Has not held elected office.
Arguments in favor
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
Arguments against
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
What we couldn’t verify
No published criticism of O'Toole by name could be found, and no published case for him. New Jersey Globe's coverage is procedural — about the petition challenge — and notes that Democrats fought to remove him because his slogan is likelier to draw votes from Bennett than from Kean. Because no case against him exists on the record, none is presented for him either.
No campaign website, platform document, fundraising figures or biographical detail beyond his town of residence could be found.
His positions beyond the ballot slogan are not published anywhere that could be located.
Positions and criticism are quoted from the named sources, not our assessments. This is built to help you start getting informed — confirm the official candidate list with your election authority before you vote.
New Jersey held its primary on June 2, 2026. Three candidates appear on the November ballot: Republican incumbent Thomas H. Kean Jr., Democrat Rebecca Bennett and independent Seamus Patrick O'Toole, who runs under the slogan "Stop Israel's Genocide." The roster is confirmed against the New Jersey Division of Elections official general election candidate list dated September 4, 2026; Libertarian Lana Leguía was removed from the ballot and Randall Terry withdrew. This is New Jersey's most competitive House race — forecasters have moved it from tossup toward the Democrats over the course of 2026 — and the most expensive, with Kean reporting $4.5 million raised and Bennett $2.9 million. Kean was absent from Congress for 117 days, from March 5 to June 30, 2026, and disclosed on his return that he had been hospitalised for clinical depression.
This is one contest on a longer ballot
A New Jersey ballot also carries state legislative districts, county offices, judicial seats and often local questions — and which of them you vote on is decided by your street address, not your city or ZIP code.
Your ballot is determined by your election authority, not by us. Verify your registration, precinct, and sample ballot at New Jersey Division of Elections.