The race to unseat Republican incumbent Tom Kean Jr. in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District involves four Democrats who are all personally invested in the American dream and its perceived demise.
The four contenders include a Navy pilot, a physician, a former Small Business Administration (SBA) senior official, and an entrepreneur. They are facing a formidable foe in Kean Jr, who is serving his second term in the U.S. House of Representatives and is the son of former Republican New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean Sr.
During a May 11 debate that was streamed online this week, each candidate took turns identifying cost of living as a top priority, alleging that the health care system is broken or characterizing the Trump administration as a direct threat to democracy.
Dr. Tina Shah, an intensive care unit (ICU) physician and former White House advisor under President Barack Obama, argued that the nation’s health care system and democracy are both failing.
She jockeyed for the position of “fixer” during the debate, which was streamed on Zoom.
“I’ve dedicated my career to fixing broken systems in the ICU, in Washington D.C., and right here in New Jersey through advocacy,” Shah said. “I am going to work as your member of Congress to fix our broken health care system, to lower costs, to protect our democracy, and restore our shrinking middle class.”
Shah was first appointed by Obama to work on policy solutions at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Former Navy pilot Rebecca Bennett took things one step further by calling the incumbent a coward and complicit with the Trump administration.
Bennett vowed to hold Kean accountable.
“Here’s the thing,” she said. “We can’t just be anti-Trump. … We have to be for something. We have to solve the problems we are all facing in our everyday lives. That means tackling our cost of living crisis, making our health care system work for all of us, and protecting our rights and freedoms.”
Bennett obtained an MBA using benefits from the GI Bill and said she purchased her home with a Veteran’s Administration loan.
Michael Roth leaned on his public service career as an interim senior official at the SBA under President Joe Biden and called for a shift toward rewarding work, restoring people’s faith in democracy, protecting the world that children will inherit, and returning power to the people.
“For 15 years, I’ve built organizations that have done exactly that,” Roth said. “An employee-owned business, training programs for better paying clean energy jobs, a nonprofit that’s helped thousands of nurses, teachers, and first responders affording their first homes.”
Business owner Brian Varela cast himself as a grassroots fighter for those who feel they’ve been left behind by the system. He proposed dismantling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and emphasized the spiraling costs of housing and groceries.
“The fact that we are paying the most per capita amongst developed nations for health care and somehow have one of the worst qualities of care is something that baffles me,” Varela said. “So I want to fight for Medicare for all and anything in the process that will move us in that direction to lower the cost of healthcare while improving the quality of care. And last, but definitely not least, I want to fight to defend our democracy.”
The Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District—and for the rest of the state—is scheduled for June 2.
May 12 was the deadline for voter registration and May 26 is the deadline for mail-in ballot requests to be received.
Friends Read Free
Copy
Facebook
Tweet
