TRENTON, N.J. (VINnews) — Rebecca Bennett, the Democratic nominee in New Jersey’s competitive 7th Congressional District, will not endorse or campaign with fellow Democratic nominee Adam Hamawy this fall, her campaign said Tuesday.

A Bennett campaign spokesperson told Jewish Insider that Bennett “is not going to campaign with or endorse Adam Hamawy this fall, as she is laser focused on flipping New Jersey’s seventh district, lowering costs, and getting corruption out of Washington.”

Bennett, a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot and Air National Guard officer who won her primary earlier this summer, is running as a relative moderate with a pro-Israel platform against Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in one of the nation’s key swing districts.f0512d

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Hamawy, a plastic surgeon and Army combat veteran, won the Democratic primary in the neighboring 12th District. He has faced national scrutiny over past associations, including serving as a defense witness in the 1995 terrorism trial of Omar Abdel-Rahman, known as the Blind Sheikh, and volunteering in the mid-1990s with Benevolence International Foundation, a charity later designated by the U.S. government as an al-Qaida front group.f67ece

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Republicans have sought to link Bennett to Hamawy because both are Democratic nominees and military veterans.

Hamawy’s campaign has defended his record, stating that his “entire career and life have been defined by his patriotism and deep love of this country.” It described his testimony in the Blind Sheikh case as a “civic and legal duty” performed while he was in the Army and dismissed criticism of his charity work as “desperate,” “absurd” and “gross and bigoted.”

Bennett defeated several primary opponents in June and has emphasized affordability, healthcare access and national security in her campaign. The general election is scheduled for November.