GOP Rep. Tom Kean loses re-election bid after monthslong absence from Congress this year

Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., who faced criticism this year after a mysterious monthslong absence from Congress, was defeated by Democratic challenger Rebecca Bennett, NBC News projects.

Bennett’s victory over Kean, the son of New Jersey’s popular former GOP governor of the same name, was a key win for Democrats in their bid for the House majority. Kean, who was in his second term, had been seen as one of the most vulnerable Republicans on the ballot, and top super PACs yanked spending in support of Kean in the closing weeks of the campaign.

He was absent from Capitol Hill from March 5 to June 30, when he revealed that he had been hospitalized and diagnosed with depression. He missed 140 votes.

“When people hear the word ‘depression,’ many think it simply means feeling sad. But depression is so much more than that. It is physical. It is emotional,” Kean said in a closely watched floor speech upon his return. “Until you experience it yourself, it is difficult to fully understand how powerful this illness can be.”

His absence was one of the stranger episodes in recent memory in Washington. As reporters asked questions and speculation mounted, Kean’s office said he was dealing with a “personal medical issue” but declined to provide any specifics or answer questions. Reporters from NBC News and other outlets knocked on the door of Kean’s New Jersey home, but no one answered.

Adding to the confusion, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other GOP leaders said they had spoken to Kean or his family but refused to provide any explanation about why he was missing from the public eye.

From the outset, Democrats believed they had a strong candidate in Bennett, a healthcare executive who, like Democratic New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, is a former Navy helicopter pilot. She attacked Kean for voting for President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which she said enacted Medicaid cuts for thousands of people in New Jersey’s 7th District, and dinged him for his votes supporting Trump’s war with Iran.

As for Kean, his name is synonymous in New Jersey politics with a family lineage stretching to the American Revolution. He criticized Bennett for her ties to healthcare companies that his campaign ads said denied coverage to patients and overbilled taxpayers.

“This election is common sense versus crazy; go with the commonsense guy,” Johnson said while he was campaigning with Kean in New Jersey.

While he was missing from work, Kean’s office tried to make it appear he was keeping busy. His office posted almost daily on X, Instagram and other social media sites, continued to author legislation and submitted remarks to the Congressional Record that make it appear he was in the Capitol delivering speeches.

“I rise today to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Jewish Federation of West Central New Jersey,” read an entry from Kean on June 2.