{"id":3272,"date":"2026-06-02T13:46:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T13:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=3272"},"modified":"2026-06-02T13:46:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T13:46:21","slug":"this-gop-congressman-is-running-unopposed-in-tuesdays-primary-hes-been-missing-from-washington-for-nearly-three-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=3272","title":{"rendered":"This GOP congressman is running unopposed in Tuesday\u2019s primary. He\u2019s been missing from Washington for nearly three months"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">GOP Rep. Tom Kean is running unopposed in his primary on Tuesday, seeking a third term in one of the nation\u2019s most competitive seats.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But voters haven\u2019t seen or heard directly from Kean in months \u2014 and it\u2019s still unclear when he might return to work on Capitol Hill. Kean has yet to offer a date for his return to House Speaker Mike Johnson and his team, who have been navigating their reed-thin margins without him since early March, according to three GOP leadership sources.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The New Jersey congressman\u00a0said in late April\u00a0on social media that he\u2019s dealing with a \u201cpersonal medical issue,\u201d without specifying what it is, and said he would be back \u201cvery soon.\u201d Late last month, he told\u00a0The New Jersey Globe\u00a0that he\u2019d be back in the \u201cnext couple of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-accent\/2 pb-5 md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">His absence, though, is now increasingly rattling House Republicans. Kean\u2019s colleagues say they are worried about his health \u2014 and how the unexplained absence could complicate the GOP\u2019s ability to hold onto a critical swing seat in an already difficult midterm cycle, according to multiple sources.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mb-4\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Some Republicans, too, are frustrated by what they see as a massive public relations failure, sources say, with the congressman\u2019s team unable to answer specific questions about his return \u2014 and then drawing national scrutiny for the lack of responses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Multiple aides in Kean\u2019s office did not respond to requests for comment from CNN.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"rounded-lg\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/rrmgOLSUScaZk09WtRpbZQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cnn_articles_875\/73176069fb7f730b9eb8fb7939094cbf\" alt=\"A worker passes the office door of U.S. Representative Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ), who has not been seen in public in two months, at the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 14, 2026. REUTERS\/Jonathan Ernst - Jonathan Ernst\/Reuters\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" data-nimg=\"1\" \/><button class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" aria-label=\"View larger image\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\" data-rapid_p=\"9\" data-y-link-id=\"0cy00311vlmape01zl41\" data-v9y=\"1\"><\/button><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 line-clamp-2 pr-2.5\">\n<div>A worker passes the office door of U.S. Representative Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ), who has not been seen in public in two months, at the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 14, 2026. REUTERS\/Jonathan Ernst &#8211; Jonathan Ernst\/Reuters<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Kean has spoken privately to Johnson since his last vote on March 5. But if the speaker or others in leadership are aware of Kean\u2019s medical condition, they have not disclosed it to their colleagues or their own staff, sources said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-accent\/2 pb-5 md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Kean\u2019s absence has mystified many of his House Republican colleagues. Some have been privately raising questions about what happens if Kean is forced to drop out of the race after the primary. Under New Jersey law, a post-primary vacancy would be filled by the state\u2019s GOP county committee leaders. (Kean told the Globe last month that he is planning to run for reelection.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He has maintained leadership support, however, with Johnson publicly backing him to reporters on Capitol Hill. And he earned a\u00a0formal Trump endorsement\u00a0ahead of his primary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">So far, his Democratic opponents in the primary have mostly refrained from using Kean\u2019s absence as a political cudgel on the trail. But Republicans believe it will become a more salient attack line after voters choose their Democratic nominee on Tuesday, choosing between four candidates who\u2019ve each raised more than $1 million. (Former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett is considered the frontrunner, raising nearly $3 million.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Since early March, Kean has continued to post regularly on his social media accounts. But it\u2019s his staff who are attending high school\u00a0graduations\u00a0and ribbon cutting\u00a0ceremonies\u00a0for new businesses. His last public events appear to have been in early March, when he spent the weekend\u00a0attending events\u00a0such as a documentary screening at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at\u00a0CNN.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GOP Rep. Tom Kean is running unopposed in his primary on Tuesday, seeking a third term in one<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics","category-us"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3274,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3272\/revisions\/3274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}