Six current and former Democratic members of Congress — each with a notable record of voting alongside House Republicans on significant legislation — have endorsed a longtime Texas Republican who is running for a Democratic congressional nomination in New Jersey, in a pattern that has drawn scrutiny from progressive activists in the state.
Rebecca Bennett, a longtime Texas Republican and former Navy helicopter pilot, is seeking the seat representing New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District.
Her endorsements from unreliable Democratic lawmakers have prompted questions about the ideological direction of the party and what voters can expect she will do in Washington.
Bennett’s own political history adds to the complexity.
She voted for George W. Bush’s reelection and later cast presidential ballots for John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012. She switched her party registration the day before Donald Trump became the Republican presidential nominee in July 2016, though she has declined to say whom she supported in the April 2016 Republican primary in Maryland, where she lived at the time.
The Endorsers and Their Records
Each of the six Democrats who endorsed Bennett has a documented history of voting with the Republican majority on legislation their own party largely opposed.
Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., voted Jan. 9 with 44 other Democrats and most Republicans to pass the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, a bill imposing sanctions on individuals involved in International Criminal Court investigations of U.S. personnel and allies — including in cases involving allegations of genocide. Ryan cited her military service and pragmatic leadership as reasons for his support when he endorsed Bennett.
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., voted in March with all House Republicans and nine other Democrats to censure Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who made vocal outbursts during President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress. The censure passed 224-198. The House did not similarly censure Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for previous violations of decorum. Houlahan endorsed Bennett.
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., has voted alongside the Republican majority on multiple national security measures, foreign aid packages, and surveillance legislation. He supported the annual National Defense Authorization Act alongside most Republicans, backed combining foreign aid bills in alignment with Republican leadership, supported legislation targeting TikTok, and backed resolutions expressing support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Moulton endorsed Bennett.
Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., voted Sept. 18 with the Republican majority to pass a resolution honoring the life of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. Crow endorsed Bennett.
Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., voted March 7, 2024, for the Laken Riley Act, a border security and immigration enforcement bill that passed 264-159 with 37 Democrats joining the Republican majority. Deluzio endorsed Bennett.
Former Rep. Patrick Murphy, who represented districts in Pennsylvania and Florida, voted Jan. 8, 2015, with all House Republicans for the Save American Workers Act, which changed the Affordable Care Act’s definition of a full-time workweek from 30 to 40 hours. He was one of 12 Democrats to do so. He also voted with Republicans for a 2015 bipartisan budget deal and was one of seven Democrats to support creating the House Select Committee on Benghazi. Murphy endorsed Bennett.
Earlier this year, when Trump asked for more than $3 billion in additional funding for Israel, Houlahan, Crow, and Deluzio voted yes.
‘That Is Not Compromise’
New Jersey’s Democratic establishment has also embraced Bennett’s candidacy. Party insiders, speaking on background, described the calculus as straightforward: the path to a House majority runs through competitive districts, and competitive districts require candidates willing to break with the party’s progressive wing.
Critics reject that framing.
“Compromise requires mutual concession,” said Democratic strategist James J. Devine. “What these endorsements reward is one-sided defection dressed up as independence.”
The critique carries particular weight in a district where economic anxiety runs deep. Income inequality has reached levels not seen since the Gilded Age, according to congressional research, with economists estimating that wage stagnation over recent decades has cost working families trillions of dollars in lost earnings.
Questions Bennett Has Not Answered
Bennett has not publicly clarified her positions on several issues central to New Jersey voters, including universal health care, tax policy for high earners, immigration enforcement, and the environmental regulations protecting the state’s drinking water.
Her Texas Republican background and voting record align with the GOP on those issues, which have fueled demands from progressive groups for greater transparency before the primary.
“Voters in the 7th District have a right to know where she stands,” said Devine, who said grassroots progressives are tired of political insiders who surrender and capitulate to the GOP. “They have a right to know why six Democrats who vote regularly with Republicans decided she deserves their support.”
At a forum in Rahway, Bennett wouldn’t commit to abolishing Donald Trump’s Gestapo-like immigration enforcement agency, and an organization called “Real Change PAC” is running ads that accuse her of investing up to $120,000 in ICE contractors.
Her website focuses on her military background, healthcare leadership, and endorsements from Democratic organizations, but does not mention her position on abortion rights.
Based on a search of direct quotes or official statements from Bennett or her campaign, NJTODAY.NEWS cannot confirm whether the candidate is pro-choice.
Bennett’s campaign did not respond to questions submitted by email regarding her policy positions or her 2016 primary vote.
A Larger Question for the Party
The endorsements have renewed a debate within Democratic circles about what ideological flexibility actually means — and who it serves.
Bennett told NJTODAY.NEWS that she considers conservative maverick Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican who was in Congress from 1983 until he died in 2018, as her role model.
In 1989, McCain was one of five US senators accused of pressuring federal regulators to back off a probe into their political contributor, Charles Keating, whose savings and loan enterprise went bankrupt in the late 1980s at a steep cost to taxpayers.
Critics say that McCain’s choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008 opened the door to grievance politics in the Republican Party, ultimately setting the stage for Donald Trump’s rise.
McCain’s campaigns for president against Barack Obama and George W. Bush became case studies in his abandoned maverick principles, drawing ridicule and accusations of political opportunism.
If primary voters want lawmakers who cross the aisle and surrender to Republicans, then it makes sense to nominate a Texas conservative running in New Jersey, but voters should be asking what distinguishes those Democrats from the incumbent in practical terms.
The answer, political observers note, will ultimately be delivered not by party officials or campaign strategists, but by the voters of New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District — many of whom have watched bipartisan rhetoric produce results that benefited the comfortable while leaving everyone else behind.
Bennett did not respond to requests for comment.
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