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Brian Varela

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Brian Varela
Image of Brian Varela

Candidate, U.S. House New Jersey District 7

Elections and appointments
Next election

November 3, 2026

Education

Bachelor's

Kean University, 2011

Graduate

University of North Carolina, 2020

Personal
Religion
Catholic
Contact

Brian Varela (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey's 7th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.[source]

Biography

Brian Varela earned a bachelor's degree from Kean University in 2011 and a graduate degree from the University of North Carolina in 2020.[1]

Elections

2026

See also: New Jersey's 7th Congressional District election, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House New Jersey District 7

The following candidates are running in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 7 on November 3, 2026.


Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

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2022

See also: New Jersey's 8th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House New Jersey District 8

The following candidates ran in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 8 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Robert Menendez Jr.
Robert Menendez Jr. (D) Candidate Connection
 
72.9
 
70,837
Marcos Arroyo (R)
 
24.2
 
23,540
Joanne Kuniansky (Socialist Workers Party)
 
0.9
 
894
Image of Dan Delaney
Dan Delaney (L)
 
0.7
 
687
Image of David W. Cook
David W. Cook (Other) Candidate Connection
 
0.7
 
647
Image of Pablo Olivera
Pablo Olivera (Labour Party)
 
0.4
 
361
John Salierno (Truth and Merit)
 
0.2
 
226

Total votes: 97,192
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 8

Robert Menendez Jr. defeated David Ocampo Grajales and Ane Roseborough-Eberhard in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 8 on June 7, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Robert Menendez Jr.
Robert Menendez Jr. Candidate Connection
 
83.0
 
26,490
Image of David Ocampo Grajales
David Ocampo Grajales Candidate Connection
 
11.7
 
3,749
Image of Ane Roseborough-Eberhard
Ane Roseborough-Eberhard Candidate Connection
 
5.2
 
1,668

Total votes: 31,907
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 8

Marcos Arroyo defeated Ana Rivera in the Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 8 on June 7, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Marcos Arroyo
 
100.0
 
3,127
Image of Ana Rivera
Ana Rivera (Write-in) Candidate Connection
 
0.0
 
0

Total votes: 3,127
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Brian Varela has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Brian Varela asking him to fill out the survey. If you are Brian Varela, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?

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You can ask Brian Varela to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing brian@varelaforcongress.com.

Twitter
Email

2022

Candidate Connection

Brian Varela completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Varela's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Lifetime Hudson County, NJ resident and small business owner, Brian Varela has decided to challenge the NJ political machine and its line. Varela, the son of immigrants, was the first person in his family to graduate college, and later obtained his MBA from one of the top business schools in the country. Varela had a successful career in corporate America and went on to form several successful companies. He managed to keep all his small businesses running during COVID and kept his entire staff employed. Brian knows he faces a great challenge, where party leaders have already chosen a candidate to fill the seat. That is not how Democracy is supposed to work. The people should be able to choose the candidate they feel best represents them, not one chosen for them. In this new post-pandemic world, people have lost jobs, homes and we are seeing a mental health crisis like no other. We need leaders who can navigate these difficult times, restore constituents’ faith in government and remind them of how resilient Americans can be. Brian Varela wants CD-8 to know "Your Voice Counts" and hopes he’ll have the opportunity to represent CD-8 on Capitol Hill.
  • Brian is a first-generation American who is looking to serve the community that he was raised in. He understands the needs of his people because he is one of them.
  • Brian's abilities as a leader are measured by his track record in business and helping people around him grown. There is a lack of bold leadership in Washington and Brian is exactly who we to get things done.
  • The gridlock in Washington is due to the polarization from both sides of the aisle. As an entrepreneur, Brian has learned the importance of objectivity and compromise.
Varela is passionate about serving families in the community. One of the ways he wished to serve and empower them is by eliminating the burden of childcare costs. Brian believes that Universal Childcare is necessary to keep this country moving in the right direction.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.


Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Brian Varela campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2026* U.S. House New Jersey District 7Candidacy Declared general$693,883 $71,857
2022U.S. House New Jersey District 8Disqualified primary$632,657 $631,298
Grand total$1,326,540 $703,155
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 4, 2022


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