New Jersey Democrats pick opponent in district where US Rep. Tom Kean Jr. has been absent

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Democrats will choose their U.S. House nominee on Tuesday in a New Jersey battleground district represented by Republican incumbent Tom Kean Jr., who’s been absent from Congress for months as he deals with an unspecified medical issue.

New Jersey’s 7th District, which includes suburban towns and rolling farmland — and one of President Donald Trump’s golf clubs — is the state’s highest-profile primary. Four Democrats are competing to take on Kean, whose aides have said he plans on seeking a third term.

Kean’s absence — his last vote was in early March — has supercharged interest in the seat, which Democrats view as key to winning control of the narrowly divided House and Republicans recognize as important to defend. Voters in the district have ousted two incumbents during midterm elections over the past decade.

Democratic voters are deciding between Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot whose background mirrors Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s, Michael Roth, a former Small Business Administration official, Tina Shah, an intensive care unit doctor, and Brian Varela, a businessman with backing from progressive groups.

The campaign has been hotly contested, with each candidate bringing in seven figures in fundraising and walking a line between appealing to the party’s base and to more independent general election voters.

Bennett’s campaign has come under fire from a political action committee that’s spent about $650,000 in the primary, attacking her from the left. Bennett said in an interview she believes the group, whose donors haven’t been disclosed, is Republican-backed and aiming to weaken her candidacy because they fear her in the general election.

The Democrats are leaning into the rising costs of groceries and gasoline caused by the Iran war and Trump’s sweeping tariffs. They’re casting blame at Republicans and Kean in particular, who they say is a bad fit for the district, pointing to his support for the president’s signature tax cut legislation.

Kean’s absence has raised eyebrows. Kean posted on X last month that he’s dealing with a “personal medical issue” and is expected to return soon, though he provided no details on what the issue is and his staff and political aides have declined to elaborate.

The district was redrawn after the most recent census to become more favorable to Republicans, but it’s gone back and forth in recent years. Kean ousted incumbent Democrat Tom Malinowski in 2022, who defeated Republican Rep. Leonard Lance in 2018.

Also being watched Tuesday is a Republican Senate primary. The party has been adrift in New Jersey since last year when its Trump-backed candidate for governor lost by double digits. Voters face a four-way race between attorney Justin Murphy, surgeon Robert Lebovics, Army veteran Richard Tabor and former TV reporter Alex Zdan.

The winner will face Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, who is running for a full third term.

More House seats could have noteworthy campaigns in the fall.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew is seeking a fifth term in southern New Jersey’s 2nd District. He was originally elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party during Trump’s first term.

Rep. Bonnie Watson is retiring from the heavily Democratic 12th District, where a crowded primary field is vying to succeed her.

Dr. Adam Hamawy, a surgeon and Army veteran, has shot to prominence with endorsements from independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and other progressives. Some of his opponents recently began criticizing him over his connection to Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, a blind Egyptian cleric convicted in 1995 of conspiring to blow up the United Nations and other New York-area landmarks.

Hamawy was a defense witness in the sheik’s trial but wasn’t accused of wrongdoing. He has condemned violence and distanced himself from the sheik during the campaign. Abdel-Rahman died in federal prison in 2017.

Republicans are picking their nominee in northern New Jersey’s 9th District, choosing between attorney Tiffany Burress and Clifton City Councilwoman Rosie Pino, to take on first-term Democratic Rep. Nellie Pou. Pou’s margin of victory in 2024 was narrower than her long-serving predecessor, Rep. Bill Pascrell, and coincided with Trump winning a county in the district.