Representative Tom Kean Jr. has not been seen in public for nearly three months. The mystery of his disappearance grew gradually, beginning with a news update in March by a political website noting that the New Jersey congressman had missed a week’s worth of votes in Washington.
He last voted in Congress on March 5.
Missing a few votes isn’t necessarily cause for alarm. But after the Easter recess, two of Mr. Kean’s Republican colleagues in Congress from New Jersey told reporters they had been told nothing about Mr. Kean’s whereabouts. Soon, other Republican leaders said they were upset that their texts to Mr. Kean had gone unanswered. The story eventually gained traction when Dan Scharfenberger, Mr. Kean’s chief of staff, told The New York Times in May, “There’s no cameras where Tom is.”
Ahead of a congressional primary Tuesday, in which he faces no Republican opposition, Mr. Kean’s only known campaign events involved making phone calls to a New Jersey political journalist and to Republican leaders in his district, one of whom asked if the missing congressman needed anything.
“Just your prayers,” Mr. Kean replied, according to the official, Joe LaBarbera, chairman of the Republican Party in Sussex County.
Mr. Kean’s aides have attributed his absence to a “personal medical issue,” which they have refused to describe, beyond assurances since April that he is expected to fully recover and return to work soon.
On the eve of the congressional primary, the mystery of the missing legislator remains frustratingly unsolved. But it was not for lack of trying.
Here’s how Times reporters attempted to uncover the truth.
In late April, The Times filed a request under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act with the police department in Westfield, N.J., where Mr. Kean lives. Where there any calls to 911 or emergency services from his address? There were not.
Every political campaign files a list of donors with the Federal Election Commission. We called more than a dozen donors, including Mary Van Lieu, a former Republican mayor of Pohatcong, N.J., and Michael Fedorko, who runs public safety in Atlantic County, N.J., and donated $600 to Mr. Kean’s re-election. None of them had any information about Mr. Kean’s condition.
Shoe Leather
Beginning in April, a Times reporter visited Mr. Kean’s primary residence in Westfield, N.J., several times. Some neighbors said they had not seen Mr. Kean or noticed any changes at the house. All declined to be quoted. A knock on Mr. Kean’s door went unanswered.
Digging into Mr. Kean’s disclosures from when he was a state senator, a reporter found the address of Mr. Kean’s vacation home in Bay Head, N.J., an exclusive community on the Jersey Shore where Bruce Springsteen also has a home. In May, she paid the house a visit. Advertising fliers were stuck in the front door. There was also a note left in April advising residents to move their cars. It seemed that no one had visited the home for some time.
Mr. Kean also owns a stake in his family’s estate on Fishers Island, N.Y., off the Connecticut coast of Long Island Sound. Like most homes of the largest homes on the island, the Kean estate sits on a private road behind a staffed guard gate. Pedestrians may walk past the gate, but only residents and their guests are allowed to drive on the eastern part of the island. Reporters arrived by ferry and interviewed people in the island’s public areas, determining that Mr. Kean had not been seen there.
Deep Sourcing
What seemed especially confounding to reporters is the fact that Mr. Kean is so well known in the state; in addition to his own quarter-century tenure in government, his grandfather was a U.S. senator, and his father, Tom Kean, was a popular governor. Reporters sought out former advisers to Mr. Kean’s father, those who ran campaigns against Mr. Kean, Republican Party leaders of counties and municipalities around New Jersey, Democratic Party officials and Mr. Kean’s longtime campaign lawyer. Yet despite dozens of phone calls to people who might have a connection to the congressman, no one had any insight into his condition.
A reporter also called about 20 hospitals in New Jersey, New York, Virginia and the District of Columbia. None had Mr. Kean listed as a patient.
Then, months after his most recent vote in Congress, Mr. Kean gave a phone interview to The New Jersey Globe on May 21. He confirmed that he would run for re-election, but otherwise appeared to reiterate the talking points that his staff had given in his absence. “My doctors are confident that I’m on the road to a full recovery,” he said. “I anticipate that in the next couple of weeks, I’ll return to voting and to the campaign trail.”
On Tuesday, as voters in New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District cast their ballots, it remains uncertain whether Mr. Kean will emerge in time for the event, and his campaign has no party planned for the evening. With no opposition, his victory is assured. In November, though, he will face well-funded Democratic opposition in what is considered one of the most competitive House races in the country.
Christopher Maag is a reporter covering the New York City region for The Times.
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