NJ-07: Morris Democrats endorse Bennett in tight vote

Rebecca Bennett finished county convention season with a win in Morris County, narrowly defeating fellow 7th district candidate Michael Roth for the Morris Democratic endorsement.

In the first round of ranked-choice voting, which opened following yesterday’s county convention and closed earlier today, Bennett received 42 votes to Roth’s 38; trailing behind them were Brian Varela with 31, Megan O’Rourke with 11, Tina Shah with six, and Beth Adubato with 0. After the four lower-performing candidates were eliminated, Bennett emerged with a 65-59 vote win, 52% to 48%.

Bennett now has the endorsement of four of the 7th district’s six county parties, collectively representing more than four-fifths of the primary vote. While those endorsements aren’t the end-all-be-all in a post-county line world, Bennett has also raised the most money of anyone in the race, and is beginning the two-and-a-half-month sprint to the June 2 primary as the frontrunner.

Roth’s close second-place finish is a solid sign for his campaign, which has staked its path to victory on a largely grassroots approach. The outcome is more dispiriting, however, for Varela, who is the only one of the six candidates to hail from Morris County and who may have once been the favorite to get the county party’s backing.



https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/morris-democrats-endorse-bennett-for-nj-7-in-tight-vote/