The path to a House majority runs straight through swing districts like New Jersey’s Seventh, which stretches the width of the state and includes wealthy suburban towns and rural conservative bastions.
Party control of the seat there has flipped back and forth twice in the last decade, making the November election by far the most competitive House race in New Jersey.
Four Democrats are competing in Tuesday’s primary for the chance to run against the incumbent, Representative Thomas Kean Jr., in the high-stakes midterm contest.
But it is Mr. Kean, a Republican who has not been seen publicly in Washington or in New Jersey for nearly three months, who has managed to overshadow the debate. On Monday night, even President Trump weighed in, claiming that Mr. Kean has been “working tirelessly” on behalf of his agenda.
“Tom Kean has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election,” the president wrote on social media, adding, “HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
Mr. Kean, 57, has missed more than 100 floor votes since March while being treated for what his aides have described only as a “personal medical condition.”
Here’s what to know about the race for Mr. Kean’s seat:
Four Democrats hope to unseat Mr. Kean.
All of the Democrats vying for their party’s nomination — Rebecca Bennett, Michael Roth, Tina Shah and Brian Varela — have run robust and well-funded campaigns, even though none of them has held elected office before.
All of the candidates have said that they would try to lower costs for New Jersey residents while taking on Mr. Trump.
Ms. Bennett is a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot and aircraft commander who has emphasized her experience as a mother and working for health care companies.
Mr. Roth ran an employee-owned consulting company and led the U.S. Small Business Administration during the Biden administration.
Dr. Shah is a physician who has worked as an adviser in the office of the Surgeon General and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Mr. Varela runs a network of child-care centers and has been outspoken about his goal of abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
‘Where is Congressman Kean?’
Mr. Kean last voted in Congress on March 5.
Since then, his office has released just one statement from Mr. Kean, in which he said he planned to “be back to the job I love very soon.”
That was 36 days ago.
His whereabouts have been shrouded in intrigue.
“Where is Congressman Kean?” an editorial in the Leader, the local newspaper in Westfield, N.J., where Mr. Kean has lived for decades, asked on Thursday.
His office has posted news releases on social media, often written in the first person. But aides have shared no recent photos or videos of Mr. Kean. When pressed on why, Mr. Kean’s chief of staff said, “There’s no cameras where Tom is.”
The congressman’s investment portfolio has, however, remained active during his absence from Congress. Disclosure forms he is required to file indicate that he signed off electronically on several stock trades in April and May.
A handful of Republican Party officials in the six counties that make up the Seventh Congressional District reported receiving calls two weeks ago from Mr. Kean, who assured them that he had no plans to abandon his re-election campaign. He also spoke to the founder of a political news site by phone on May 21, saying that he anticipated returning to Congress and to his campaign effort “in the next couple of weeks.”
Mr. Kean, who has held the seat since 2023, is running unopposed on Tuesday.
He cast a ballot by mail, his spokesman said last week.
Campaign spending has drawn attention.
An independent poll conducted during the race suggested that the No. 1 issue for voters in Tuesday’s Democratic primary was electing the candidate best positioned to oust Mr. Kean and help flip the House from red to blue.
More than one-quarter of those surveyed said they believed Ms. Bennett was that candidate. She has also led the field in fund-raising since the start of the race.
Republicans appear to have noticed, too. A new political action committee with ties to Republicans is running negative ads that seek to undermine Ms. Bennett and elevate her more progressive opponents, who the poll showed were considered less likely to beat Mr. Kean in a head-to-head matchup. The PAC, Real Change, was formed last month in Nebraska and has so far spent about $650,000 to discredit Ms. Bennett.
It’s a strategy that is also playing out in other districts across the country as the parties vie for competitive advantage in the race for control of the House.
New Jersey’s governor, Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, issued a statement in response to the ads that scolded Republicans. “Stay out of Democratic primaries,” she said.
Ms. Bennett filed a cease-and-desist order against the PAC and responded with an ad of her own.
“MAGA is spending big,” the ad states, “spreading lies about Rebecca Bennett because they know that she’s the only Democrat who can stop Donald Trump.”
Tracey Tully is a reporter for The Times who covers New Jersey, where she has lived for more than 20 years.
The post Trump Claims a Missing N.J. Congressman Has Been ‘Working Tirelessly’ appeared first on New York Times.
