My 2010 Honda Accord
The case for sending regular people to Congress.
There is a cost-of-living crisis in this country. I’ve been saying that since I launched this campaign because it’s what families across our district are living every single day.
About a month ago, I posted a video explaining why I still drive around in my 2010 Honda Accord. The response surprised me. People couldn’t believe that a candidate for Congress would be driving a car that old. I literally had someone text me and ask, “Is that really your car?”
But my husband and I drive it because it’s what we can afford. Replacing it with something newer doesn’t make financial sense right now. That’s the kind of decision most families I know are making every day.
And that’s a big part of why I’m running.
We need more regular people in office – people who understand firsthand the challenges families are facing because they’re living them too.
I know what it’s like to worry about childcare costs. I know what it’s like to look at a grocery bill and wonder how the same items somehow cost so much more than they did a few years ago. I know what it’s like to make tough financial decisions because there isn’t an unlimited amount of money sitting in the bank account.
Tom Kean Jr. grew up as the son of one of the most powerful politicians in New Jersey. He’s never had to wonder whether he could afford childcare or make difficult choices to adapt to a cost-of-living crisis that is squeezing families across our district.
Thanks to Citizens United, campaigns have gotten enormously expensive. As a candidate, you have to raise millions of dollars. The reality is that doing that often requires stepping away from a full-time job for nearly two years.
Who can afford to do that?
Mostly independently wealthy people and career politicians.
That’s part of the problem. Too many of the people making decisions in Washington have never personally experienced the financial pressures that are weighing on working families. They talk about affordability as an abstract concept. Families in our district are living it.
When I talk to people across this district, I hear the same concerns over and over again: young families wondering if they’ll ever be able to afford a home here, seniors on fixed incomes stretched thin by property taxes, rent, and prescription drug costs, and parents trying to balance childcare with rising food, utility, and transportation expenses.
These conversations are what this campaign is built around.
I want to tackle the cost-of-living crisis now, not ten years from now. Not after another study. Not after another round of political excuses.
Today.
Because families can’t afford to wait.
That’s where my focus will be in Congress, and it starts with this race.
We have work to do. Let’s win this thing.
– Rebecca
This campaign is powered by people like you — neighbors who believe we can build a better future for every family in New Jersey’s 7th District.
Every dollar you contribute helps us reach more communities, share our vision, and build the coalition needed to deliver real change for the people of this district
Whether it’s $5 or $500, your support makes a difference. Together, we can flip NJ-07 and fight for the working families of this district.
Paid for by Rebecca Bennett for Congress. Rebecca Bennett is a former member of the United States Navy and current member of the Air National Guard. Use of her military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense or any other department, agency or service of the United States Government