Well, now that the matchup is set for the gubanatorial race this fall, Democrats in New Jersey and across the country are mounting a fullcourt press for the 2026 midterms, targeting the state's seventh district, where five Democrats are running to ask Republican Tom Kaine Jr. from the seat and flip it blue.

The centerpiece of their campaign, well, President Trump's big, beautiful bill.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanigan reports.

It got Republican applause, but the president's deeply controversial budget bills a two-edged political sword.

It's given belleaguered Democrats a cohesive message and they hope some potent campaign firepower as local congressional districts gear up for the next midterm elections.

Donald Trump can see the battle lines forming.

Not one Democrat voted for us, and I think we use it in the campaign that's coming up, the midterms, because we got to beat him.

Democrats smell blood in the water.

Democrats um see a strong midterm environment shaping up for them.

Writers Micah Rasmuson points to New Jerseyy's seventh congressional district and two-term incumbent Tom Kaine Jr. who voted for the bill.

It's helped make Kaine a special target for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which listed CD7 as one of its 35 Republican held districts in play.

Even though Trump carried the seventh by a point last November, according to committee spokesman Eli Cousins, this is a very purple terrain.

This is a district that has swung back and forth in recent years.

And so what's different about this time really is the fact that Congressman Kaine Jr. has voted for one of the most unpopular and politically toxic bills that we have seen in a very, very long time.

State officials project 350,000 New Jersey residents will likely lose health care under the bill's Medicaid funding cuts and 400,000 more could see their federal food assistance shrink.

The committee's already posted fundraising websites for Democrats in target districts and launched digital attack ads.

you're going to see the best Democratic candidates coming off the bench.

They are they're going to get their tier one candidates um because the perception is among candidates that this is going to be a good environment for them to run in.

So far, five Democrats, including former Small Business Administration official Michael Roth and businessman Brian Varela and former Summit Councilman Greg Vartan, have announced they'll run in next June 7th CD primary.

Among the first to declare, pharmaceutical exec Rebecca Bennett, like Congresswoman and candidate for governor Mikey Cheryl, Bennett's a US Navy veteran chopper pilot.

being able to bring that piece of my experience to the table, my experience working in the business sector, working in healthcare, and then also being a mom of two kids and understanding the challenges that families are facing.

Bennett went to school on the GI Bill and has connected with vets groups and so far raised close to a million dollars in campaign cash.

I don't come from a powerful political family or a wealthy family, but that is a strength for this campaign because I fundamentally understand the challenges that families are facing in a way that I don't think Tom King Jr. ever will.

The most recent candidate to join the race, a Jerseyorn doctor who served as a medical and veterans adviser in both the Obama and Biden administrations.

Dr. Tina Shaw, who raised more than a quarter million dollars the first day of her campaign, calls herself a moderate Democrat.

I've demonstrated that I can work across the aisle and I think that's what this district wants.

Dr. Shaw described treating a diabetic patient who got sick because he rationed his insulin.

She fears thousands will suffer from Medicaid cuts.

What we're watching is the active dismantling of US healthcare.

We're watching Tom Kaine Jr. rubber stamping Trump's agenda.

We're watching misinformation spread.

And I'm just not willing to to sit down anymore.

So, I'm stepping up as a doctor to restore science and sanity into DC.

But remember, Kane last won reelection by five points in the nation's most expensive congressional race.

He's raised $970,000 in the first quarter of 2025 alone.

His campaign cites his vote for Trump's budget as fully restoring the salt deduction for every middle class family, securing our borders, and protecting the integrity of vital safety net programs like Medicaid for their intended beneficiaries.

Make no mistake, his political opponents are creating a vulnerability for themselves by advocating for tax hikes and open borders.

Both parties will be playing for keeps and control of the Congress.

I'm Brenda Flanigan, NJ Spotlight News.