NJ-07: N.J. Building Trades makes no endorsement, two years after backing Kean
The influential New Jersey State Building & Construction Trades Council is staying on the sidelines in New Jersey’s highly competitive 7th congressional district race, withholding its endorsement two years after backing U.S. Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) in one of the nation’s most closely watched House contests.
The loss of the building trades endorsement comes at a challenging moment for Kean, who has been sidelined for more than three months by an undisclosed illness, leaving the two-term congressman absent from the campaign trail and Capitol Hill as Democrats ramp up their efforts to flip the seat in a bid to win a majority in President Donald Trump’s midterm election.
While building trades unions have traditionally aligned with Democrats on labor, infrastructure, and prevailing wage issues, their membership has long been more politically diverse than that of many other organized labor groups. Many rank-and-file construction workers vote Republican, and Trump has enjoyed substantial support among building trades members in New Jersey.
Kean faces Democrat Rebecca Bennett, a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, in the general election in a district that Trump won by one percentage point in 2024 and Gov. Mikie Sherrill by two points in 2025.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/n-j-building-trades-makes-no-endorsement-in-nj-7-two-years-after-backing-kean/