Thomas Kean Jr.

Tom Kean
Official portrait, 2022
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New Jersey's 7th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2023
Preceded byTom Malinowski
Minority Leader of the New Jersey Senate
In office
January 8, 2008 – January 11, 2022
Preceded byLeonard Lance
Succeeded bySteve Oroho
Member of the New Jersey Senate
from the 21st district
In office
March 1, 2003 – January 11, 2022
Preceded byRich Bagger
Succeeded byJon Bramnick
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly
In office
April 19, 2001 – March 1, 2003
Preceded byAlan Augustine
Succeeded byJon Bramnick
Constituency22nd district (2001–2002)
21st district (2002–2003)
Personal details
Born
Thomas Howard Kean Jr.

(1968-09-05) September 5, 1968 (age 55)
Livingston, New Jersey, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseRhonda Kean
Children2
Parents
RelativesRobert Kean (grandfather)
Leslie Kean (cousin)
EducationDartmouth College (BA)
Tufts University (MA)
WebsiteHouse website

Thomas Howard Kean Jr. (/ˈkn/ KAYN;[1] born September 5, 1968) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from New Jersey's 7th congressional district since 2023. He represented New Jersey's 21st legislative district in the New Jersey Senate from 2003 to 2022, serving as minority leader from 2008 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, Kean is the son of former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean.

From 2001 to 2003, Kean was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly, representing the 21st legislative district, which includes parts of Union, Morris, Somerset, and Essex counties. In 2003, he was elected a New Jersey state senator representing the same district, and in January 2008 he became minority leader of the New Jersey Senate, serving in the position until his term ended in January 2022.[2]

After Governor Chris Christie was reelected in 2013, Christie tried and failed to remove Kean as minority leader.[3] Kean was frequently mentioned as a potential Republican candidate for governor in the 2017 New Jersey gubernatorial election, but did not seek the nomination.[4]

Kean ran to represent New Jersey's 7th congressional district in 2000 and lost to Mike Ferguson in the Republican primary. He ran again in 2020 and became the Republican nominee, but lost the general election to incumbent Democrat Tom Malinowski. In a 2022 rematch, Kean defeated Malinowski.

  1. ^ Felzenberg, Alvin S. (2006). Governor Tom Kean. Rutgers University Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-8135-3799-3. From the time James Kean arrived in South Carolina, the Keans took pains to retain the proper pronunciation of their name, which rhymes with rain rather than with green.
  2. ^ Wildstein, David. "County chairs back Bramnick, Assembly incumbents for re-election", New jersey Globe, November 15, 2022. Accessed January 6, 2023. "Bramnick, a former minority leader of the New Jersey State Assembly, won a State Senate seat in 2021 after Tom Kean, Jr., now a congressman-elect, declined to seek re-election in order to focus on his challenge to Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes)."
  3. ^ Isherwood, Darryl (November 8, 2013). "Democrats continue to savage Kean". NJ.com. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  4. ^ Lizza, Ryan (April 14, 2014). "Crossing Christie". New Yorker. Retrieved April 20, 2014.

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