New Jersey voters look for answers about Tom Kean Jr.'s prolonged absence from Congress

By — Mike Catalini, Associated Press Mike Catalini, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/new-jersey-voters-look-for-answers-about-tom-kean-jr-s-prolonged-absence-from-congress Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter New Jersey voters look for answers about Tom Kean Jr.'s prolonged absence from Congress Politics Jun 1, 2026 12:43 PM EDT WESTFIELD, N.J. (AP) — When New Jersey voters gathered this week to talk with a state lawmaker about affordable housing and new data centers, there was something else on their mind, too. Where is their congressman, Republican Tom Kean Jr.? "What's the word?" Steve McCabe, an 80-year-old retired lawyer, asked Jon Bramnick, a GOP state senator. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Bramnick had no answer for Kean's unexplained medical absence that has stretched over nearly three months. But he told the audience how Kean hated to miss votes when they served together in the Legislature, even if that meant driving through a snowstorm. "I said, 'Tom, we should really turn around,'" he recalled. Now Kean has missed more than 100 votes in Congress, and he has not been spotted in Washington or in his district. It is a political mystery with potentially national consequences: Kean represents a district that is among Democrats' top targets as they try to retake control of Congress. Kean's office insists he is still running for reelection. He is not facing any challengers in Tuesday's primary while several Democrats are running for their party's nomination. Harrison Neely, Kean's campaign consultant, said the congressman was dealing with a medical emergency. He promised that Kean would be transparent about the issue and would return to a full schedule "very soon." READ MORE: Why a surge of election-related websites could spell rising cyber threats for the midterms "This was an emergency, you don't get to plan these," Neely said. "There's no good timing for this." To Bramnick, it seems like it must be something serious. "For him not to be there, that's a big deal," he said. 'We're expecting him back here soon' Kean represents the 7th Congressional District, a mix of suburbs and small towns. It includes President Donald Trump's Bedminster golf course. Despite being redrawn after the most recent census in 2021 to become more favorable to Republicans, the district has seesawed between the parties in each of the last two midterm elections. Republican Leonard Lance lost to Democrat Tom Malinowski in 2018. Malinowski lost to Kean in 2022 . Kean's last vote in the House was March 5. Since then his absence has drawn escalating attention. "We're expecting him back here soon," said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., recently. "He's going to be fully transparent." Kean comes from a storied political family. His father served as governor. An ancestor was New Jersey's