New Jersey Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who has been absent from Congress for roughly three months, won his uncontested primary on Tuesday, officially becoming the Republican nominee for his House race in November.
Kean has not been seen in Washington, D.C., since early March — missing over 100 votes in the House — and his neighbors in Westfield, New Jersey, told NOTUS they don’t know anything about his whereabouts.
Candidates had until March 23 to file to run against Kean. By then, the congressman had been away from Washington for about a week, but his absence had not been widely reported. Kean first commented on his absence on April 27, when he said it was due to a “personal medical issue” and that he would be back “very soon.”
In a social media post on Monday, the day before the primary, President Donald Trump endorsed Kean, saying he was “working tirelessly” for his district.
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On Tuesday night, Kean easily won. The Associated Press called the race immediately after polls closed in New Jersey at 8 p.m. ET.
Maureen O’Toole, a spokesperson for House Republicans’ campaign arm, said Kean “has been a tireless advocate for New Jersey families.”
His office and his campaign team did not respond to NOTUS’ requests for comment on what his plans were on election night. Kean cast a ballot by mail last week, The New York Times reported.
Kean’s team has been operating as if it’s business as usual: The congressman on Monday introduced legislation, he seemingly approved staff trips in April, he traded stocks in March, and his social media accounts have made posts written in first person.
Kean’s campaign made several expenditures on Amtrak, Lyft and Uber for “candidate travel” in mid-April, when Kean was missing from Congress, according to a campaign filing submitted less than two weeks before the Tuesday primary.
House GOP leaders have said they do not have any details around Kean’s medical issues. Speaker Mike Johnson said in May that Kean would be back “soon,” and North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson — the National Republican Campaign Committee chair — told reporters that he did not know what Kean’s medical issue was, but that he would be back voting in June. He did not provide an exact date. House members’ first vote this month is scheduled for Wednesday.
In a statement made before his race was called, Kean said he “will transition from virtual work to in person work within a matter of weeks. At that time I will be completely transparent as to the nature of my medical condition.”
“I understand the need for transparency on this matter and I look forward to sharing my experience with the public,” Kean added.
Kean first won the seat in 2022 with 51% of the vote and was reelected in 2024 with 52%. The race for New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District is one of the most competitive in 2026 and is being targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
“D.C. Republicans are freaking out about losing this seat because even they know that Tom Kean Jr.’s lack of transparency will dog him on the campaign trail — if he ever reemerges,” DCCC spokesperson Eli Cousin told NOTUS in a statement. “His months-long absence has put a spotlight on his self-inflicted vulnerabilities including playing the stock market while in office, putting loyalty to Donald Trump first, and failing to show up when the people of New Jersey need him most.”
Kean will face Democrat Rebecca Bennett in November. Bennett won her party’s nomination Tuesday night, according to the AP, against three other challengers: Brian Varela, Michael Roth and Tina Shah.
This story has been updated to include the race call for the Democratic nominee.
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