Incumbent Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. Tuesday lost his suburban New Jersey Congressional seat to Democrat Rebecca Bennett as voters, many discouraged by President Trump’s second-term agenda, propelled Democrats into office nationwide.
Kean, a two-term lawmaker, who disappeared from public view for months in what turned out to be a bout with depression, trailed Bennett by a nearly 23% margin with 65% of vote counted.
Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot and health care executive, fits the profile of a moderate Democrat in the mold of Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who won the state by a landslide last year.
The NJ-07 district, spanning verdant New York suburbs and rural horse country, appear to have been one of the first dominos to fall as Democrats hoped to win control of the Congress in a midterms election driven by Trump’s unpopularity.
Trump’s unpopularity has turbocharged a longstanding shift towards Democrats among well-educated and wealthy voters, making it far less comfortable turf than before for down-ballot Republicans like Kean.
That spelled big trouble for Kean, who won reelection by just 3% in 2024 when Trump ran a stronger than expected race in the Garden State.
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