When they go to the polls two weeks from today, voters in New Jersey’s hotly contested 7th Congressional District have a choice among two longtime warmongering Republicans and a Democrat who is running on a platform against funding weapons used by Israel against civilians in Gaza.
The candidates are incumbent Congressman Tom Kean Jr., the Republican nominee; former Texas Republican Rebecca Bennett, the Democratic nominee; and Democrat Seamus O’Toole, who is running as an anti-genocide independent.
The Trump administration is threatening to shut down PURL, the NATO-managed program that lets allies buy US weapons for Ukraine, and to cut intelligence sharing to stop Kyiv from striking Russian refineries.
American analysts argue that Washington is pressuring the wrong country while Russia keeps hitting Ukraine’s power grid.
Despite having produced no proposal since his first election in 2016, Trump told rally attendees in Ohio, “We will pass a truly great healthcare plan that will stop all payments to big insurance companies.”
“If I didn’t know that he doesn’t have a clue, I’d swear he was talking about universal healthcare or Medicare for All. But I know better,” said New Jersey political operative Eric Kipnis.
Bennett promises to restore cuts Kean Jr. and MAGA Republicans made to Medicaid and Medicare, but she won’t sponsor Medicare for All to ensure every American has health insurance and she would elect as House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, who’s opposed to Medicare for All. Every member of Congress who shares the vision expressed by O’Toole is also supporting universal health coverage.
Bennett is endorsed by seven lawmakers — U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin, U.S. Representatives Pat Ryan, Chrissy Houlahan, Seth Moulton, Jason Crow, and Chris Deluzio, as well as former U.S. Representative Patrick J. Murphy — who are defense-oriented national security Democrats or veterans and generally voted during the Biden administration in favor of robust defense budgets and the annual National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs).
They consistently aligned with bipartisan majorities to increase Pentagon funding, support military pay raises, invest in emerging defense technologies, and provide security assistance to Ukraine and Israel, and so will Bennett. Kean voted for greater spending on deathand destruction during the Trump era. O’Toole is opposed to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which is supported by US military aid and cooperation.
Political political organizations and networks supporting candidates like Rebecca Bennett—such as VoteVets and national-security Democratic PACs—frequently back moderate lawmakers whose voting records draw criticism from progressive and anti-war advocates. Many of these endorsed members (including Jared Golden, Elaine Luria, Chrissy Houlahan, Pat Ryan, Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, and Brad Schneider) consistently vote to approve the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), oppose human rights restrictions on foreign military aid, or reject War Powers Resolutions aimed at curbing foreign military engagements.
Furthermore, many national security Democrats in the same ecosystem as Bennett receive campaign funding from defense contractors or pro-Israel groups (such as AIPAC and UDP), while prominent moderates like Jared Golden and Elaine Luria have occasionally broken with party lines on key domestic priorities like student debt relief, climate regulations, or firearm safety bills.
Rebecca Bennett has received campaign contributions from pro-Israel political action committees and defense-adjacent networks.
According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) campaign finance disclosures, Bennett has received tens of thousands of dollars from pro-Israel organizations.
Notably, Bennett’s pro-Israel fundraising includes support from J Street PAC and outside expenditure support from groups like Article One PAC. During primary election activity in her district, the AIPAC-affiliated United Democracy Project (UDP) spent heavily in advertising within the region, and Bennett rejected calls to disavow contributions from pro-Israel networks.
While her campaign relies heavily on endorsement networks like VoteVets (which has spent over $800,000 in independent support ads for her), her campaign finance records also reflect individual contributions and financial connections linked to the defense-AI, intelligence, and aerospace technology sectors.
Bennett says Israel has a right to slaughter civilians in Gaza, and she has voiced commitment to maintaining U.S. security assistance, having aligned herself with pro-Israel Democratic establishment networks and received endorsements from organizations such as the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA).
Kean explicitly pledged that he “will always support Israel and will work against any efforts to delegitimize it”, calling Israel a trusted U.S. ally and a vital democracy in the Middle East.
On military matters and support for Israeli violence, there is very little difference between Bennett and Kean, which make sense since they share a Republican upbringing, although Bennett left the GOP when she was alienated by Donald Trump and Kean has capitulated to the extremism represented by the MAGA movement.
Democrat Seamus O’Toole, who is running as an independent, is on the ballot with the slogan “Stop Israel’s genocide,” so there is no doubt that he represents a very different viewpoint, but he probably needs about 165,000 votes to win.
Experts say Tom Kean Jr is expected to receive approximately 155,000 votes, so the outcome of the race largely depends on whether Democratic voters embrace a former Texas Republican or one of their own who is running as an independent candidate.
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