Where the hell is Rep. Tom Kean, Jr.? That’s been a lingering question for months. The New Jersey Republican, who represents one of the most competitive districts this cycle, has been AWOL since March, reportedly dealing with a health ailment of unknown origin. The levels of intrigue reached new heights when Speaker Mike Johnson admitted not so long ago that he had no idea where Kean was.
His father, former NJ Gov. Tom Kean, provided updates, as did his staff, but they’re full of secretive games. I feel like we’re on week 12 of the ‘he’ll be back in a few weeks’ story. What we do know, supposedly, is that he’s dealing with a health issue, and that the center where he’s receiving treatment doesn’t allow photography, or something. Speaker Johnson also said that he got in touch with the congressman, and he told him what’s been ailing him; he refused to say what it was.
NEW: Rep. Tom Kean, who has been missing from Congress since March 5, releases a statement saying he will be back in “a matter of weeks” and will be “completely transparent as to the nature of my medical condition.” https://t.co/kvDYUfI5Mc
— Caitlin Huey-Burns (@CHueyBurns) June 2, 2026
Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey, who has missed more than 100 votes since early March, says he will return to work in person "within a matter of weeks.”
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 3, 2026
When pressed by CBS News’ @CHueyBurns how it was acceptable for a member of Congress to be absent for months… pic.twitter.com/X2zCInnriv
Speaker Johnson tells reporters he spoke with Rep. Tom Kean (R-NJ) a few days ago and needs a “little bit longer to recover.”
— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) June 3, 2026
Mike Johnson says Kean told him his condition but won’t expose it.
Says it’s not scandalous. pic.twitter.com/KLB2rdyP1C
Meanwhile, Kean will be facing Rebecca Bennett, after she won her primary on Tuesday (via NYT):
Rebecca Bennett, a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot and aircraft commander, beat three opponents on Tuesday to win the Democratic nomination to run in November against Representative Thomas Kean Jr., a New Jersey Republican who has been missing from Congress for nearly three months.
The race is expected to be among the country’s most contested midterm matchups. Democrats see Mr. Kean’s seat in New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District as a potential pickup as they seek to retake the House and check President Trump’s power in Washington.
Ms. Bennett was leading her closest primary opponent, Tina Shah, by roughly 27 percentage points when The Associated Press called the race in her favor an hour after polls closed.
She thanked her supporters gathered in Bridgewater, N.J., in a rousing address.
[…]
Mr. Kean, 57, had no challenger in Tuesday’s Republican primary. But intrigue over an unexplained health condition that has caused him to vanish from public life since the middle of March has overshadowed much of the debate in recent months. He has missed more than 100 votes during his absence, at a time when Republicans hold a narrow House majority and are working to advance the president’s agenda ahead of the midterm elections.
“Where is Congressman Kean?” an editorial in the Leader, the local newspaper in Westfield, N.J., where Mr. Kean has lived for decades, asked on Thursday.
The mystery remains.
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