Democrat Rebecca Bennett is projected to defeat Republican incumbent Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in a crucial swing district race as Democrats push to take back control of the House.
Bennett, a retired Navy helicopter pilot, won the race for New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District after Kean disappeared from Congress for four months in 2026. The lawmaker said his disappearance was due to inpatient treatment for depression, but it raised significant questions about his commitment to being in Congress.
That wasn’t the only thing hurting Kean’s chances of winning reelection. The rising cost of gas and the unpopularity of many of President Donald Trump’s policies that Kean supported, from cutting Medicaid and other assistance programs to the Iran war, played a huge role in dragging him down.
The northern New Jersey district covering some of the state’s most affluent suburbs is a perennial swing district, with a slight tilt to Republicans. Kean, the son of former GOP Gov. Tom Kean Sr., first ran in the 7th Congressional District in 2020, but lost to Democratic incumbent Tom Malinowski in what was the closest House race of the cycle. He ran again in 2022 and defeated Malinowski after redistricting made the district more Republican.
The race attracted a huge amount of national attention, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) coming to campaign for their parties’ respective candidates. But Republicans pulled advertising from Kean’s race in October, an early signal that he was going to lose.