Congressman Tom Kean Returns to New Jersey Following Extended Absence

Representative Thomas Kean Jr., who had been absent from Washington for nearly four months, has returned to his New Jersey home.

On Wednesday evening, he was observed on the street outside his Westfield residence, standing in a brightly illuminated front room shortly before 8:45 p.m.

After a reporter from The New York Times rang his doorbell, Kean greeted him: “It’s good to see you.” He was dressed in a dark suit with a red tie. “We’ll speak next week,” he added. “Thank you.”

Mrs. Rhonda Kean, his wife, appeared in the background, smiling. Kean declined to provide further comments and closed the door.

Aides stated that Kean was receiving medical treatment and was expected to recover fully, but they offered no further details. In the meantime, he had missed more than 100 floor votes since mid‑March.

The Republican congressman is campaigning for a third term in a heavily contested midterm race. His extended absence has left even his most devoted boosters frustrated.

His spokesperson, Harrison Neely, announced last week that Kean was projected to return to Washington on June 30. Neely declined to disclose how long the congressman had been at home or to provide additional details about his prolonged absence.

“He will be fully transparent on the 30th,” Neely wrote in a text message.

Earlier this month, Kean – running unopposed in the Republican primary – secured the nomination for his Seventh‑District seat while the Democratic Party selected Rebecca Bennett, 39, a former Navy helicopter pilot.

Democrats view the seat as a prime pickup opportunity in their quest to alter the balance of power in Washington and had been pursuing the race long before the congressman’s missing votes began.

Kean was last seen on Capitol Hill on March 5, when he spoke at a committee hearing and cast a crucial “yea” vote supporting funding for President Trump’s immigration crackdown and ending a government shutdown.

Neighbors in Westfield reported that there had been no obvious sign of Kean for months. The family’s vacation home in Bay Head, N.J., appeared shuttered the weekend before Memorial Day, and residents of Fishers Island, N.Y., where the Kean family owns a large estate, said they had not seen him either.

Aides repeatedly assured that Kean had no intention of abandoning his re‑election plan and was expected to return to work “soon,” even as they declined to discuss the medical condition that had sidelined him.

In May, after a debate among four prospective Democratic challengers, chief of staff Dan Scharfenberger offered a cryptic explanation for the congressman’s absence: “There’s no cameras where Tom is,” he said, and offered no further elaboration.

During his absence, Kean continued to engage in congressional business, buying and selling stock, submitting remarks to the Congressional Record, and urging House colleagues from afar to oppose Ireland’s trade‑limit proposal with Israel.

Several Republican leaders from the Seventh‑District’s six counties reported receiving calls from the congressman, and his office released two statements attributed to Kean, including one on Primary Day, June 2, when he made no public appearances.

“Right now I am focused on my recovery and under the advice of health‑care professionals,” the June 2 statement read.

The statement also indicated that he planned to be “completely transparent as to the nature of my medical condition.”

Kean wrote, “I understand the need for transparency on this matter, and I look forward to sharing my experience with the public.”

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