Tom Kean Jr, the 58-year-old Republican congressman from New Jersey’s 7th district, is running for reelection after a three-month absence from Congress and public life that he later attributed to hospitalization for depression. The gap—during which he missed 100 votes—has turned a seat drawn to favor Republicans into one of the midterm cycle’s more closely watched contests, with Cook Political Report moving its rating from toss-up to lean Democrat in September.
A silence, then an explanation
Kean vanished from public view for more than three months before returning at the end of June, when he said he had been hospitalized for depression. He offered no further detail about the timing or nature of the treatment. The absence coincided with rising economic pressure from the Iran war and fresh tariff threats, issues that were beginning to dominate voters’ concerns. House Speaker Mike Johnson later said he would have explained the absence sooner.
Kean’s public reemergence has been limited. His campaign denied a New York Times reporter entry to an August event. After a livestreamed debate with Democratic challenger Rebecca Bennett, he declined to take questions. Two emails from the Guardian to his campaign went unanswered; campaign manager Harrison Neely responded only to a second text message, rejecting what he called a false narrative that Kean avoids the press. Neely said the campaign prioritizes direct communication with voters and that Kean does more local press than any other member of New Jersey’s congressional delegation. New York Magazine reported this week that Kean had ignored its interview requests.
A district that keeps swinging
New Jersey’s 7th is the wealthiest district in the country, but its politics have been volatile. Redrawn in 2022 to benefit Republicans, it voted for Donald Trump by a slim majority in 2024 and then elected Democrat Mikie Sherrill as governor in 2025. Since 2018, control has seesawed between the parties. Kean, the son of former governor Thomas Kean, carries widespread name recognition and had more than $2.4 million in campaign funds as of February. Trump has endorsed him.
Yet the incumbent’s visibility has been uneven. A recent drive through Bedminster, a Trump-friendly area, turned up few Kean lawn signs. His campaign says it is fully funded and will match Bennett dollar for dollar on the airwaves. Kean has pointed to $6.2 million from the National Republican Congressional Committee, even after two super PACs—the Congressional Leadership Fund and the Safety and Affordability PAC affiliated with Trump—canceled their remaining spending in the district. Neely said Republicans have outspent Democrats there.
Bennett’s opening
Bennett, 39, is a political newcomer with an unusual resume: former Navy helicopter pilot and aircraft commander, later an executive at an online healthcare company. She has focused her campaign on affordability, describing the cost-of-living crisis as personal rather than abstract and citing her own family’s struggles. She argues that voters are deeply frustrated by Kean’s support for Trump’s agenda, pointing to his vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and his handling of the Iran war and Gateway tunnel funding. Her moderate stance is seen as appealing in a district where many 2024 Trump voters are discontent with the economy.
At a rally at Raritan Valley Community College on October 16, Bennett said her campaign would do everything to flip the seat in the final 16 days, citing momentum and enthusiasm on the ground. She declined an invitation to debate on WRNJ radio. Her schedule has included a meet-and-greet in Basking Ridge last Sunday. At a No Kings protest in New Providence last weekend, voter Albie said Kean did not handle his absence well and that mental health is a serious matter.
What the final stretch will test
Kean’s campaign has challenged Bennett to a WRNJ debate, which she declined. The congressman gives interviews mostly to local reporters, and his campaign invites local outlets to events. Whether that strategy can quiet questions about transparency—and whether voters will reward his explanation or punish his absence—will shape the race’s closing weeks. For now, the contest remains a test of whether a familiar name and a financial edge can overcome a period of silence that even some Republicans say should have been explained sooner.
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