Tom Kean Jr., the Republican congressman from New Jersey whose four-month absence from the House this year went unexplained until he disclosed that he was being treated for depression, and Democrat Rebecca Bennett are readying for the first and only campaign debate Sunday night in their closely contested race.
The 7th Congressional District, which includes President Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf club, has changed party control in each of the past
two midterm elections, making it a magnet for campaign spending and a kind of political barometer. Republicans are trying to defend their narrow House majority at a time when Trump's approval rating is deeply underwater and gas prices are rising because of his war with Iran.
Kean, a former state legislator who comes from a deep-rooted political family, is seeking a third term. During his absence, he missed more than 100 votes.
He returned in June and said he had been hospitalized for depression and that he was a private person by nature.
Bennett, a former Navy pilot who also worked as a healthcare executive, is a political newcomer. She won a competitive primary in June and was widely viewed as a more moderate and electable Democrat than some of her competitors.
Millions of dollars have poured into the race.
Last week, a super PAC tied to the Republican president indicated it would spend more than $3 million to help Kean in the race. Another political action committee tied to Democrats has set aside about $2.5 million for television ads in the New York market to help Bennett and another Democrat in a New York district.
Kean's district became slightly more Republican after the redistricting following the 2020 census. Nonetheless, Democrats view it as a prime pickup opportunity.
Kean won in 2022 by unseating Democrat Tom Malinowski, who had ousted Republican Leonard Lance in 2018.
Kean comes from a long line of public servants, stretching 250 years to the country’s founding when one of his ancestors became New Jersey’s first leader since independence.
Kean’s great-grandfather was a senator, his grandfather was a congressman and his father was a two-term governor.
