New Jersey Rep. Tom Kean Jr. resurfaced Tuesday on Capitol Hill and said treatment for depression was the cause of his four-month absence from public view.
Kean, 57, the scion of a famed Garden State political family, said in a speech on the floor of the House that he was hospitalized to treat the condition but now expects to return to full work schedule and to campaign for another term in office.
“I was given the diagnosis of depression,” Kean said. “The doctors recommended I remain in the hospital to address my illness.”
Kean, a two-term incumbent, faces a tough reelection fight in his affluent suburban battleground district that is expected to be a marquee matchup in the fall midterms as Democrats seek to retake the House of Representatives.
Democratic challenger Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, has slammed Kean for going AWOL on the district and failing to explain his disappearance from public view for so long.
Democrats have targeted the district as a prime pick-up opportunity, given that the seat has changed hands in the last two midterm elections.
Kean missed more than 100 votes in Congress since March 5 and won the GOP primary even though he didn’t campaign at all.
President Trump endorsed Kean’s reelection, praising him as “hardworking” without mentioning the long absence.
Kean comes from a famed New Jersey family. His namesake father is the former two-term governor. His great-grandfather was a senator, his grandfather was a congressman.
Kean’s spokesman promised the congressman would return to work Tuesday and be transparent about what has kept him away. Last week, Kean answered the door of his home for a reporter, but declined to be interviewed.