Brian Varela, an entrepreneur and a former leader of the New Jersey Forward Party, likely didn’t start out at the top of anyone’s shortlist for the Democratic nomination in New Jersey’s 7th congressional district. But in the first 12 hours after launching his campaign yesterday morning, Varela said he raised over $153,000, a total that will make his opponents of both parties have to take him seriously.

“This campaign is powered by people,” Varela said in a statement. “And raising over $153,000 on day one shows that there’s real hunger for a representative who understands what working families are facing – and who’s ready to fight back on their behalf.”

Varela’s campaign said that none of the $153,000 total was self-funded; a release said that his fundraising was boosted by “widespread enthusiasm” for a candidate willing to buck Washington’s “corporate insiders and elite power structures.”

The total vaults Varela into the same category as former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett, one of his leading Democratic opponents, who raised over $125,000 during her first 24 hours in the race and over $425,000 in her first two months as a candidate. The other declared Democratic candidate for the seat, former Summit Councilman Greg Vartan, has yet to announce his own fundraising totals.

The district’s Republican incumbent Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), likewise has not yet said how much he raised during the first quarter of 2025, though the congressman has always been a strong fundraiser.

Varela has taken an interesting path to arrive at his 7th district campaign. The owner of a marketing agency and a number of childcare centers, Varela first ran for political office in 2022, challenging now-Rep. Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City) in the Democratic primary for the Hudson County-based 8th congressional district, but he was removed from the ballot due to an issue with his petition signatures.

Soon afterwards, Varela was tapped by Andrew Yang, an erstwhile supporter of his congressional campaign, to help launch the New Jersey branch of Yang’s centrist Forward Party. Varela also moved to Morris County and became involved in political organizing there; he ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Washington Township Committee in 2024.

Now he’s on his third run for office, and he says he’s the right choice for Democrats in a highly competitive seat that could decide whether or not Democrats flip the House next year.

“This campaign isn’t about me – it’s about the people of this district,” he said today. “They’re tired of being left out of the conversation. I’m ready to represent them with the urgency and respect they deserve.”