Rep. Tom Kean Jr. made his first appearance on the House floor in nearly four months Tuesday and revealed a depression diagnosis led to his extended hospitalization.
The New Jersey Republican’s floor remarks were his first public disclosure about the absence that went publicly unexplained for more than 100 days. His staff blamed a personal medical condition without providing other details, sparking widespread concern and speculation as they assured reporters that all would be revealed when he returned.
Kean explained in the speech that his diagnosis came after medical testing and that he did not know at the outset how long he would be hospitalized.
“When I said I hoped to return in a matter of weeks, I believed it,” he continued. “Those were the best estimates the doctors could provide, but as the over 48 million of my fellow Americans being treated for this illness have come to discover, there is no timeline for healing, there is no timeline for recovery — only the work of getting better one day at a time
Kean, the son of a beloved former governor of the state, is New Jersey’s most vulnerable House Republican. He will face Democrat Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, in the November midterms.
In addition to being absent from Washington, Kean has also been missing from the campaign trail for the last several months, boosting Democratic hopes of flipping his seat. Kean, who won the June 2 primary for his seat unopposed, has insisted he’s fully committed to winning a third term and has a fundraiser scheduled for later Tuesday.
“I am grateful that I accepted help because today I stand before you healthier, stronger, and excited to return to the work that I love,” he said on the floor. “To my constituents, thank you. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your understanding. Thank you for your prayers, and thank you for allowing me the honor of serving you.”
Even Kean’s political allies spent the last several months largely in the dark about his condition. The other two House Republicans from New Jersey, Reps. Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith, said in April that they had tried reaching out to Kean out of concern but had not heard back — Van Drew described it as “radio silence” — and local party leaders in Kean’s district were similarly left out of the loop.
The mystery of Kean’s absence was only fueled further by reports of empty houses and ominous statements from his team that there were “no cameras” where he was.
“I am a private person by nature,” Kean said Tuesday. “Talking about myself has never come naturally, but I believe that I owe an explanation to the people of New Jersey’s 7th District, to my colleagues in this chamber and to the American people for my absence.”
Speaker Mike Johnson said in April that he had spoken with Kean by phone, and later described Kean’s condition as something “very common” and “not a scandalous thing at all.”
Speaking shortly before Kean addressed the House Tuesday, Johnson gently chided him for his secrecy: “If it were me, I would have been more specific about that, and I encouraged him to be.”
Kean’s absence has complicated Johnson’s efforts to pass key legislation through a closely divided House where every Republican vote has been precious.
Despite reassurances from Kean’s political team that he was still seeking reelection, his prolonged absence led to speculation in Republican circles that the party would need a late replacement.
Laura Ali, the Republican chair of Morris County, which overlaps with Kean’s district, told POLITICO earlier this month that Republicans who “would want to be” considered to replace Kean and “have made their intentions quite clear.” Ali and other local Republicans grew nervous as Kean had effectively ceded the early summer campaign playing field to Bennett.
“Yeah, I am nervous — of course I am, because it’s a very unsettling situation,” Ali said at the time.
Johnson predicted Tuesday that Kean “gets elected easily this fall.”
Local Republican leaders and legislators in Kean’s district were reluctant to criticize Kean for his absence, saying instead they’re glad he’s feeling better and criticizing Democratic outside groups for using his illness as a political cudgel.
“Third-party groups have been smearing the hell out of him during this — that’s not really fair,” said Assembly Minority Leader John DiMaio, a Republican who lives in the 7th District. “If someone is down, has a health issue, you’d think that they’d respect that.”
Bennett, for her part, said she was “relieved” to hear he is doing better after learning of his diagnosis, but she accused him of “failing our community long before this absence.”
“Tom Kean Jr. still somehow found time to trade stocks while missing votes,” Bennett said in a statement. “This is the self-serving culture in Washington that New Jerseyans are rejecting, and the kind of behavior they are sick and tired of from career politicians.”
Kean reported stock trades during his absence, as required by the House. His office previously explained Kean does not personally handle his investments.
Kean won reelection against Democrat Sue Altman by 5 points in 2024 — an unusually strong year for Republicans in New Jersey. This year he faces what’s shaping up to be a tougher political environment and an opponent who Republicans, by all appearances, would have preferred to avoid facing.
As Bennett ran a more centrist campaign than her primary rivals, a Republican super PAC posed as a left-leaning group and attacked Bennett as “weak” for not calling to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Bennett’s biography closely matches Democratic New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who last year defied expectations with a landslide victory over Republican Jack Ciattarelli despite eight years of full Democratic control of New Jersey that saw rising energy costs. Sherrill’s statewide victory included a 2-point win in Kean’s 7th District.
Shortly after making his speech on the House floor, Kean held a private conference call with GOP leaders in the 7th District, where he reiterated the cause for his absence. Bill Palatucci, a Republican National Committee member and Kean’s campaign attorney, said Kean “sounded strong and like himself and ready to go.”
“I think voters will be completely understanding and sympathetic,” Palatucci said. “Anyone who tries to make a political issue out of his illness will regret it.”
Daniel Han contributed to this report.
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