The Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District has narrowed to a two-way contest that presents voters with a stark choice between war and peace.
On one side stands Brian Varela, a first-generation American and progressive organizer backed by the antiwar group Peace Action. On the other is Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot and longtime Texas Republican who has built a campaign around military strength and attracted significant funding from defense-minded donors.
The race to challenge two-term Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in one of the nation’s most competitive districts has become an ideological battleground that cuts to the core of the Democratic Party’s identity in the Trump era.
Varela, whose Colombian immigrant parents worked as a waitress and a truck driver, has built a grassroots campaign centered on opposition to what he calls Trump’s “violent, fascist, anti-democratic MAGA agenda.”
He has pledged to end the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and has positioned himself as the peace candidate in a party increasingly fractured over foreign policy and military spending.
His endorsements read like a roll call of progressive power: Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez, former Senate President Steve Sweeney, and the Latino Victory Fund.
Peace Action, the nation’s largest grassroots peace organization, has also lined up behind Varela, citing his commitment to reducing military intervention abroad and redirecting Pentagon spending toward domestic needs.
According to Peace Action, Varela believes in a humane approach to foreign policy focused on commerce and aid rather than war, and he would advocate for the US to engage in serious dialogue to put the world on a pathway to a nuclear-free world.
But the most telling endorsement may be the one Varela has rejected. He is the only candidate in the race who has refused corporate PAC money, a stance his campaign says reflects his belief that “democracy works best when it belongs to the people—not career politicians and big donors.”
Bennett offers a dramatically different vision. The former naval aviator and experimental test pilot has made national security the centerpiece of her campaign, pledging to “prepare the United States for 21st-century warfare” and identifying China as “the number one strategic threat to global democracy.”
Bennett is the only Democratic primary candidate who supports the Trump administration’s brutal mass deportation response to immigration, and her website promises she will “do everything in her power to keep Americans safe,” a message that has resonated with establishment Democrats seeking a more traditional approach to foreign policy.
The contrast extends to their personal histories. Varela, who put himself through college while working full time and later raised his teenage brother after their mother died of cancer, speaks often about economic fairness and the struggles of working families.
Bennett, who holds an MBA from Wharton and has made millions as a pharmaceutical executive, moved to New Jersey from Texas, where she was a registered Republican.
She has cited the late Sen. John McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee and a conservative Republican hawk, as a political role model.
Financially, Bennett holds a commanding lead.
She has raised more than $1.9 million, the most of any candidate in the race, and is the only contender to demonstrate consistent, quarter-over-quarter fundraising growth. Her donor base includes VoteVets, JStreet PAC, and other neoliberal organizations that often see ‘moderates’ as the most electable candidates.
This is a district that narrowly voted for President Joe Biden in 2020, but for all intents and purposes, Kean is a dead man walking. He has been MIA for weeks; sources tell us he suffered a nervous breakdown and is suffering depression over his imminent defeat.
Varela has largely kept pace, reporting just over $1 million raised overall. His financial advantage is narrower than Bennett’s, but recent polling suggests his message is breaking through.
A survey released in January found that 41% of Democratic primary voters saw Varela as the candidate who best represented them, and he led Bennett in a head-to-head matchup 42% to 25%.
Party bosses and power brokers are trying to put a thumb on the scale in favor of the hawkish former Republican whom they view as “more electable,” but Democrats who live in the district question the logic of nominating someone who appeals to Republicans when a perfectly good progressive can hold the seat.
The primary, scheduled for June 2, will determine who faces Kean in November.
For voters in the 7th District, the choice could not be clearer: a peace candidate who has pledged to end corporate influence in politics and curtail military spending, or a former Republican who has built a campaign around strength and security, with the financial backing to match.
The outcome will offer the first major test of whether the Democratic Party’s progressive wing can compete with establishment-backed candidates in the Trump era. It will also determine who carries the party’s banner into what is expected to be one of the most expensive and closely watched House races in the country.
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