EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – Atlantic County Freeholder Ashley Bennett is the latest Democrat to announce a bid for Jeff Van Drew’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Bennett said in a release that she would formally announce her candidacy 10 a.m. Friday morning at Mt. Zion Church in Pleasantville.
She is the third female candidate to announce a bid for the Democratic nomination following Congressman Jeff Van Drew’s likely switch to the Republican Party after he voted against impeachment of President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday. Longport resident Brigid Callahan Harrison and Amy Kennedy of Brigantine are also seeking the Democratic nomination.
“While we must address the betrayal of the hard working people of NJ Congressional District 2 who voted in good faith to put Congressman Jeff Van Drew in office, actually watching him cast a no vote during the impeachment vote tonight was the final insult to the proverbial injury,” Bennett said.
Bennett was elected to the Atlantic County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 2017 after gaining national notoriety for challenging incumbent Freeholder John Carman after he posted a meme critical of the national Women’s March held in Washington, D.C.
She is a lifelong resident of Atlantic County, graduate of Egg Harbor Township High School, and holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Rutgers University. She works as a psychiatric emergency screener at a local hospital.
“As an elected official who already represents part of NJ CD 2 (Districts in Egg Harbor Township and Hamilton Township), I understand the needs of the district and there is so much more we need to be working on to serve all of our constituents. It is time to put the focus back on the many hard-working families that make up the district and that’s exactly what I intend to do,” she said.
