Tom Kean, Jr.

Thomas Howard Kean, Jr. (born September 5, 1968), known as Tom Kean, Jr., is a moderately conservative Republican from New Jersey who currently serves as the Minority Leader of the upper state legislature, a position he has held since 2008. He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in the 2020 U.S. House elections from New Jersey's 7th district, narrowly losing to Democrat Tom Malinowski.

Kean is the son of Thomas Howard "Tom" Kean, Sr., a Moderate Republican who was the Governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. The elder Kean said of his son:

“	He's got quiet courage, he’s got decency, he's got imagination, he's got drive, he's got the kind of qualities that you would put together if you want to make an ideal congressman.	”
—Thomas Kean, Sr.

Political career

Bid for Congress, 2020

In mid-April 2019, Kean announced his run for U.S. House from New Jersey's 7th congressional district against Tom Malinowski, who ousted Moderate Republican Leonard Lance and flipped the seat for the Democratic Party in the 2018 midterms. Kean stated at an American Legion Hall in Union County:

“	Inequality must be addressed. This will require new laws, not the abandonment of the America principles that we value. We simply cannot sit by as DC politicians advocate for the false policies that history has discarded.	”
—Kean, 2019

During the campaign, Kean, who studied the failure of socialism abroad at Eastern Europe in 1988, railed against radical measures pushed by progressives in Congress such as the Green New Deal. Kean also attempted to tie Malinowski to congressional far-leftists despite the fact that the Democrat congressman escaped a socialist dictatorship in his youth.

The Democrat establishment tried to tie Kean to Trump and Chris Christie with the aim of weakening his support among suburban voters who shifted away from the GOP in the 2016 presidential election, to which Kean responded:

“	Let me be clear about who I am and what I represent: I am a Tom Kean Republican.	”
—Kean, 2019

After winning the party nomination as an establishment candidate, Kean turned to focus on the general election against Rep. Malinowski. A debate was held between the two nominees in late September 2020, where health care and campaign finance were key issues. Malinowski emphasized his support for Obamacare, while Kean stated:

“	One of the problems with the ACA was that it was passed simply on a partisan basis and when you have things that are passed on a partisan basis alone, you have things don’t always have the best solution that stands the overall test of time.	”
—Kean, September 2020

Malinowski also touted his stance on campaign contributions by stating that he refused direct corporate donations, though admitted that he raked in money from corporations indirectly. Kean claimed that the majority of Malinowski's donations came from out-of-state and criticized the representative as a hypocrite for "taking contributions from other PACs."

In the general election, Kean was defeated by Malinowski with a margin of one percentage point; he conceded on November 19, 2020.

Political views

Although most of Kean's political positions appear to be orthodox party stances, his credentials are questionable due to having flip-flopped. Despite voting against same-sex "marriage" in 2010, he flip-flopped a decade later, likely in an attempt to appease increasingly liberal voters in his district.

Little is known of Kean's position on abortion; according to On the Issues, he has expressed opposition towards a litmus test for United States Supreme Court justices on the issue in a debate with Robert Menendez in 2006. Kean has also supported embryonic stem cell research, a stance he heavily touted.