Former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett’s campaign for New Jersey’s 7th congressional district has picked up the support of the man who helped turn Summit blue.
Jordan Glatt, whose election as the mayor of Summit in 2003 made him the first Democrat to lead the Union County suburb in a century, announced today that he will support Bennett in the district’s crowded Democratic primary. (The last Democrat before Glatt was George Baldwin, who served from 1902 to 1903.)
“As a former mayor I know how important it is to have your congressperson available to your constituents and other elected officials,” Glatt said in a statement. “Rebecca Bennett will be that congressperson.”
Glatt retired from the mayor’s office in 2011, and the city has flipped between Republican and Democratic mayors since then. Glatt now works as a special assistant to the president at Centenary University – that president, Dale Caldwell, is currently the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor – and was named in 2018 as co-shared services czar in Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration.
Bennett faces seven Democratic opponents in the race to take on two-term Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield): climate scientist Megan O’Rourke, attorney Vale Mendoza, former Summit Councilman Greg Vartan, businessman Brian Varela, physician Tina Shah, criminal justice professor Beth Adubato, and ex-Small Business Administration official Michael Roth.
Summit, population 22,719, is one of the district’s most important Democratic hubs; in 2024, it supported Democratic nominee Sue Altman over Kean 58% to 41%.
