Democratic challenger Rebecca Bennett says flipping New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District is critical to restoring federal abortion protections, putting Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr.’s record and position squarely in the spotlight.
LONG HILL, NJ — Democratic congressional candidate Rebecca Bennett is making abortion rights a major issue in her campaign to unseat Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr., arguing that control of the U.S. House could determine whether federal abortion protections are restored after the fall of Roe v. Wade.
“We need to flip the House this November to restore and protect abortion access nationwide,” Bennett said following an event in Long Hill with Planned Parenthood Action Fund President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson.
Her abortion message is straightforward: elect enough Democrats to control the House and attempt to restore federal protections lost when Roe was overturned.
“And the road to flipping the House runs right through NJ-07.”
Bennett is running against Kean, the two-term Republican incumbent representing New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District. State election officials list Kean and Bennett as the Republican and Democratic nominees for the Nov. 3 general election.
Bennett Calls for Reinstatement Federal Abortion Protections
Bennett has said she supports restoring abortion protections at the federal level and preventing states from restricting access based solely on geography.
Her campaign has made reproductive rights, contraception, IVF and women’s health care part of its broader argument that Democrats need to retake the House.
“I will never stop fighting until reproductive freedom is protected for every person,” Bennett has said.
This weekend, she met with the Planned Parenthood Action Fund leaders.
Kean Calls Himself Pro-Choice, Supports 20-Week Limit
Kean’s position is more restrictive than Bennett’s but does not match calls for a complete national abortion ban.
During his 2022 congressional campaign, Kean said he supported “a woman’s right to choose” through approximately 20 weeks of pregnancy.
“Up to about 20 weeks, a person, a woman, can … have an abortion for any reason,” Kean said at the time.
He said abortions after that point should be limited to circumstances involving rape, incest, or threats to the life or health of the mother or fetus.
Kean has also said he opposes a national abortion ban.
During his 2024 reelection campaign, Kean argued that abortion policy following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision should largely remain with individual states.
“Post-Dobbs, this is an issue that has to happen on the state level,” Kean said.
Kean Voted Against New Jersey Abortion Rights Law
Kean’s legislative record gives Bennett an opening to challenge his more recent self-description as pro-choice.
In January 2022, while serving in the New Jersey Senate, Kean voted against the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act.
The legislation codified into state law a right to reproductive choice, including contraception and abortion, as New Jersey lawmakers moved to protect those rights ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s eventual decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Kean said at the time that he objected to the legislation because it did not contain restrictions on abortions later in pregnancy.
That vote has remained one of the central pieces of his abortion record in subsequent congressional campaigns.
Kean’s Earlier Campaign Language Was More Conservative
Kean has also faced questions over language used during his 2022 Republican primary campaign.
A campaign page described him as a “fierce defender of the sanctity of life” who would protect “the unborn from egregious abortion laws proposed in New Jersey” and continue that fight in Congress.
The language stood in contrast with statements later in the general election in which Kean described himself as pro-choice with limits.
Kean Backed Restrictions on Federal Abortion Funding
Kean’s congressional voting record has also included votes that abortion-rights groups oppose.
In 2023, he supported House Republican efforts restricting the use of Defense Department funds for abortion-related services and travel.
He also voted with the Republican majority on procedural motions that prevented Democratic measures expanding federal abortion protections from reaching the House floor.
Those votes do not amount to support for a nationwide abortion ban, which Kean has said he opposes, but they place him well to Bennett’s right on federal abortion policy.
IVF Record Gives Kean a More Moderate Counterpoint
Kean has also taken positions intended to demonstrate support for other forms of reproductive care.
In 2024, he introduced legislation offering federal tax credits to families facing the cost of in-vitro fertilization and backed a House resolution expressing support for IVF access.
Kean has repeatedly argued that protecting IVF and supporting women’s health care can coexist with restrictions on abortion later in pregnancy.
That gives the congressman a more nuanced record than either side’s campaign shorthand is likely to suggest.
NJ-07 Could Help Decide Control of the House
The race between Bennett and Kean extends well beyond abortion.
NJ-07 includes portions of Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren counties and has become one of the most competitive congressional districts in the state.
Kean won the seat in 2022 and was reelected in 2024.
Bennett won the Democratic nomination this year and is now trying to turn abortion rights, affordability and health care into decisive issues against the incumbent.
