Contact: Aly Ferguson
aly@newpolitics.org; 480-363-6465
The first-time candidate ousts a two-term incumbent and helps pave the path towards a House majority for Democrats.
WASHINGTON D.C. (November 3, 2026) — Former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett has defeated Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. to win New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District. New Politics endorsed Bennett just two months after she launched her campaign and played a key role in helping her win a crowded primary despite facing significant GOP dark money spending against her. Tonight, she beat Kean in a district Donald Trump carried by one point in 2024.
Emily Cherniack, Founder and Executive Director of New Politics, released the following statement:
“Rebecca Bennett learned to lead in the Navy, where you take responsibility for your crew and the mission comes before everything else. She has carried those values through her whole career, and she’ll bring them to Washington at a moment when Congress badly needs people who put duty ahead of politics. New Politics saw that in Rebecca from the very beginning, and we’re honored to have been in her corner for this entire race.”
New Politics is an organization that revitalizes American democracy by recruiting, developing, and electing leaders across the ideological and political spectrum who have committed their lives to serving their communities and our country, either through military service, national service organizations like AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps, or by demonstrating strong service-based leadership in their community. New Politics' support includes strategic advising and training in all aspects of a candidate's campaign, such as fundraising, communications, organizing, hiring, and team building. New Politics has raised over $40 million to support over 475 candidates, successfully electing more than 200 of them to office, from Congress to School Board. Learn more at newpolitics.org.
