Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. is back at work — and back to avoiding the spotlight.
On Monday, Kean, a New Jersey Republican, silently refused to even acknowledge a reporter as he hustled out of the Capitol toward Independence Avenue. He did much the same on Thursday, when he was one of the last lawmakers to descend the Capitol steps after the House recessed for the week.
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Asked about his return to Congress after a monthslong absence and his schedule as he runs for reelection in one of the country’s most competitive contests, Kean stared straight ahead.
If Kean has been on the campaign trail in New Jersey, it is hard to tell. Aides have refused repeated requests for his campaign schedule in the two weeks since Kean reappeared in Congress and explained that he had been hospitalized for depression.
He did not follow up a June 30 speech on the House floor with media interviews. And even some of his staunchest allies in New Jersey said they were unaware of his plans to campaign locally.
The Republican chair in Sussex County, a region seen as crucial to Kean’s victory, says he is “waiting on dates” for a hoped-for visit from the congressman. State Sen. Doug Steinhardt, the chair of the Republican Party in Warren, a neighboring county and conservative part of Kean’s district, said Kean was expected to attend the county fair at the end of July. But he was aware of no other scheduled campaign events.
“I hope he intends to be more visible,” said Steinhardt, who previously led the New Jersey Republican Party.
Harrison Neely, a spokesperson for Kean, said that the congressman was “full speed ahead with a campaign.”
“You can see that the congressman is active,” Neely said. “His social media is active.”
Since his June 30 return to Congress, Kean’s social media accounts have shared only a handful of posts that include recent photos of the congressman. One shows him marching with his wife in a parade. Another features him in an office, beside a family concerned about Lyme disease, an increasing worry in the area. There are also images of him with winners of an elementary school essay-writing contest and speaking at recent House committee hearings.
In some ways, Kean, 57, is operating as he always has. He has refused to hold in-person town hall meetings during his two terms. And he has shunned most media attention during his tenure. Neely noted that it was not unusual for Kean to decline to share his schedule of upcoming public appearances, as he had not done so during his previous congressional campaigns, either.
But Kean’s recent mental-health struggle and long absence — which he declined to explain in any detail for nearly four months — have increased his profile and brought a higher level of scrutiny to his campaign as he makes his pitch to voters. He is facing a tough race for a third term against Rebecca Bennett, the Democratic nominee, in a swing district that both parties consider a must-win in the midterm battle for control of Congress. His fate in November may depend in part on how he manages to shape the narrative of his return.
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It may also hinge on how shrewdly he can navigate new headwinds. President Donald Trump’s low approval ratings and voter dissatisfaction over the prices of gas and food have made Republicans like him vulnerable. In New Jersey, Kean, who was endorsed by the president, has had to fend off claims that he failed to stand up to Trump when the president tried to cancel funding for a Hudson River train tunnel vital to commuters in the district.
He has also had to weather the administration’s abrupt changes in policy tied to a proposed migrant detention facility in Roxbury, New Jersey, a Republican stronghold in Kean’s district. The Trump administration last month said it had abandoned its expensive quest to build the detention center in a vacant warehouse, but last week signaled plans to revive the project. Republican leaders in the township, who have sued to block the 1,500-bed jail and months ago criticized Kean for failing to do enough to try to stop it, again began raising the alarm.
The mayor of Roxbury, Shawn Potillo, also contacted Kean’s office.
“As he resumes his official duties, we welcome any support he may be able to provide,” Potillo said in an email.
Kean’s most recent campaign finance filings point to the ground he lost while out of the public eye from March through June.
A report his campaign filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission showed that donors had chipped in roughly $300,000 in the last quarter, far short of the nearly $1.6 million in contributions Bennett reported.
Kean nonetheless continues to hold a sizable fundraising edge, with $3.6 million left on hand to spend in the run-up to the Nov. 3 election for his 7th District seat. Bennett, a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot who has worked for healthcare companies, has less than half as much: $1.4 million.
The congressman also has the advantage of name recognition in a district where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by roughly 19,000 voters. His father, who is also named Thomas Kean, was one of the state’s most popular governors and later steered the 9/11 Commission.
And he does still have time. Jeanette Hoffman, a Republican political strategist, noted that summertime is a typically slow season for campaigning. She said she was confident that Kean would run a “vigorous campaign when it matters most.”
“I don’t think anybody’s looking at his calendar and saying, ‘Oh my gosh where is he?’” Hoffman said. “That’s an insider’s game right now.”
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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.