NJ Rep. Tom Kean Jr. breaks mysterious silence amid long 'medical' absence

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on May 26, 2026

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N.J. Rep. Tom Kean Jr. has broken his mysterious silence amid a nearly three month-long absence over an unexplained “medical” issue.

The embattled Republican scion of one of the Garden State’s most famed political families called some fellow GOP officials over the holiday weekend to reassure them that he’s still running for reelection and plans to return to the public eye soon.

But Kean still isn’t showing his face or shedding any light on whatever ailment has kept him in virtual hiding since the start of March.

“My doctors are confident that I’m on the road to a full recovery,” Kean told the New Jersey Globe. “I’m running.”

The two-term incumbent was already facing a tricky reelection fight in the November midterms with President Donald Trump’s abysmal poll numbers threatening to drag down Republican lawmakers, especially in affluent, well-educated suburban swing districts like NJ-07.

Democrats will vote next week in a primary to pick a challenger to Kean, who is running unopposed for the GOP nod. Frontrunners include former Navy pilot Rebecca Bennett, doctor Tina Shah, Michael Roth and Brian Varela.

NJ-07 was once safe GOP turf but has become a toss-up in recent years as Democrats gain ground among more affluent voters with college degrees.

Even before he went AWOL, Kean was among his party’s most endangered members as Democrats try to capitalize on Trump’s unpopularity to retake control of the House of Representatives.

Kean’s political woes over the unexplained absence may be amplified because he has a longtime reputation as an aloof public figure, who shuns reporters and avoids appearing at town halls or other meetings with constituents.

His political lineage dates back to 1776, when one of his ancestors became New Jersey’s first leader after the United States declared independence. His great grandfather was a senator, his grandfather was a congressman and his namesake father, now 91, was a popular governor.

Kean is counting on voters rewarding him for tax cuts that Trump signed into law last year, including easing the restrictions on deducting state and local taxes, or SALT, a big issue for upper middle-class homeowners in high-tax blue states like New Jersey.