Top Republican super PACs aligned with President Donald Trump and congressional Republican leadership are cutting off financial support for Rep. Thomas H. Kean Jr. of New Jersey and one other GOP House member seeking reelection.
This marks the first time in this cycle that national Republican groups have pulled support from incumbents, as the party scrambles to avoid further losses in the upcoming midterm elections.
Officials with the two super PACs decided to cancel all remaining advertising booked for Kean and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa after internal G.O.P. polling showed their reelection chances dimming.
After pulling funding from the open Nebraska seat vacated by retiring Rep. Don Bacon, national Republicans have effectively given up on three House districts the party currently controls.
When voters go to the polls, those in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District will weigh a three-way contest: incumbent Republican Congressman Tom Kean Jr.; former Republican Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett, a Democratic primary victor who has received campaign contributions from pro-Israel political action committees and defense contractors; and Seamus O’Toole, a longtime registered Democrat who is running as an independent under the “Stop Israel’s Genocide” banner to offer a distinct alternative on U.S. foreign policy and Middle East military aid.
O’Toole is a segment producer with MSNBC who works on The Briefing with Jen Psaki.
In 2024, Republicans emerged from the election holding only a three-seat majority in the House. Since then, the party has tried to pad that slim margin through an aggressive redistricting push that reshaped the map.
The Republican triage efforts also include withdrawing all remaining funds reserved to target two Democrats running for reelection: Reps. Greg Landsman of Ohio and Kristen McDonald Rivet of Michigan. Other seats were under active consideration to be abandoned as soon as this week.
Republicans hold a slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives with 218 members compared to 214 Democrats, alongside two vacancies and one independent (Rep. Kevin Kiley) who caucuses with the Republicans.
Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gutted the Voting Rights Act, Republican-led state legislatures across the South have pursued mid-decade redistricting to redraw or eliminate majority-Black and Democratic-leaning congressional districts.
Texas, responding to Trump’s call to cheat, shifted five seats toward Republicans by redistricting, and was followed by the dismantling of largely Black districts in Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
All told, the super PAC aligned with House Speaker Mike Johnson, the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), is redirecting $10 million from the seats it is effectively ceding in Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio, spreading those funds across 16 new districts.
“For two years, we’ve built the resources and infrastructure that allow us to maneuver in a difficult environment,” Chris Winkelman, president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, said in a statement. “These moves keep the pressure on the most vulnerable Democrats and preserve a path to 218 seats.”
It was unclear how much money was being redirected from the constellation of super PACs aligned with Trump. Those groups had reserved more than $6 million in the districts in Iowa, New Jersey, and Ohio, according to the ad-tracking service AdImpact.
The redirected money from CLF is intended to shore up a number of incumbent Republicans, including Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Rep. Monica De La Cruz of Texas.
Other Republicans set to receive support from CLF include Reps. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, Rob Wittman of Virginia, and Bill Huizenga of Michigan.
Kean, whose father was once governor of New Jersey, had vanished from Congress for months earlier this year with almost no explanation, only later revealing he had been hospitalized to treat depression. The Leadership Fund had spent more than $2 million against Bennett in October alone, federal records show.
Meanwhile, third-party candidate Seamus O’Toole’s entry into the NJ-07 general election contest provides voters in the district with a multi-candidate slate reflecting sharp national security and foreign policy contrasts among all three options on the ballot.
To review registered candidates, sample ballots, or district information for New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, visit the New Jersey Division of Elections Official Website or check candidate profiles on Ballotpedia’s NJ-07 Election Guide.
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