Next Tuesday, Rep. Tom Kean Jr. — missing from action for more than three months due to an unspecified medical condition — is scheduled to make his return to his official duties in Congress. Later that same day, he’ll be returning to the campaign fundraising circuit, too.
According to an invitation shared with POLITICO, a reception in support of Kean, a top Democratic target this fall, has been scheduled for the evening of June 30. Few other details are known about the fundraiser; Kean’s spokespeople declined to comment, though they did not deny the event’s existence.
Kean also has at least four more fundraisers scheduled for later in the summer and fall, according to a schedule reviewed by POLITICO. That’s far from abnormal for a politician in a competitive race, but in the context of Kean’s lengthy absence, it’s an indication that the congressmember is indeed fully committed to his reelection campaign, as he’s repeatedly asserted.
A former state legislator in New Jersey who unseated a Democratic incumbent in 2022, the 57-year-old Kean last cast a vote on March 5, 112 days ago. His office said on March 20 that he was “addressing a personal health matter,” an explanation that has been reiterated with scant additional details for months since then, allowing the mystery of his disappearance to quickly spiral from a local curiosity into a national news story.
Last week, Kean spokesperson Harrison Neely said he would be back on June 30, and would provide more details then on what’s been ailing him. The New York Times’ Tracey Tully spoke with Kean in person at his Westfield home yesterday, but learned few additional details about his condition.
During Kean’s absence, Democrats in his 7th Congressional District have endured an expensive primary contest and landed on a nominee, former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett, who’s been touted by national Democrats as a star recruit. Bennett herself has largely steered clear of attacking Kean over his medical woes, but an allied outside group recently began an ad campaign excoriating his missed votes.
Kean’s fundraising, too, has taken a hit during his time away from the campaign trail. Bennett outraised Kean by more than $100,000 in the fundraising period that covered April and early May, her first time doing so, though much of that money had to be immediately poured back into her Democratic primary campaign.
The congressmember’s June 30 fundraiser gives him a chance to start catching back up with Bennett on day one of his return, but it’s also providing fodder for his Democratic critics.
“Tom Kean Jr. has time to trade stocks and fundraise with his wealthy donors, but hasn’t found the time to be transparent with his constituents about why he’s been missing from work for months while taking a taxpayer salary,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Eli Cousin said in a statement. “He represents everything that people hate about corrupt career politicians.”
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