Congressman Tom Howard Kean Jr. represents New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, a seat he has held since January 2023. His path to Washington runs through one of the state’s most storied political families and more than two decades of legislative experience in Trenton.

Born September 5, 1968, in Livingston, New Jersey, Kean is the son of former Governor Thomas Kean Sr., grandson of Congressman Robert Kean, and great-grandson of Senator Hamilton Fish Kean — a lineage tracing back through several ancestors who represented New Jersey in the federal government. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Dartmouth College and a master’s from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Early in his career, he worked at the Environmental Protection Agency under President George H.W. Bush and later served as a legislative aide to Congressman Bob Franks.

Kean’s own political career began with a failed 2000 congressional primary bid, after which he was appointed to the New Jersey General Assembly in 2001 and moved to the state Senate in 2003. He served as the chamber’s Republican minority leader from 2008 to 2022. In between, he ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate against Democratic incumbent Bob Menendez in 2006, a campaign remembered for its sharp focus on Menendez’s legal troubles.

After decades in Trenton, Kean finally won a federal seat in 2022, narrowly defeating incumbent Democrat Tom Malinowski. He now sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and belongs to the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus, Main Street Caucus, and Republican Governance Group — memberships that reflect his positioning as a moderate within the GOP conference, fitting for a district that leans only slightly Republican.

Policy positions

Kean has emphasized cost-of-living issues, healthcare access, infrastructure, and support for AI safety and law enforcement funding. On healthcare, he backed extending enhanced Affordable Care Act premium subsidies in January 2026 and co-sponsored bipartisan legislation aimed at preventing a lapse in those credits, alongside a bill to make prescription drugs more affordable for patients with chronic conditions. He has also pushed for funding tied to substance abuse and mental health treatment.

On abortion, his record is more conservative: he voted against a New Jersey state bill codifying abortion rights and, in Congress, supported the Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act, while stating he believes the issue is best left to individual states. On gun policy, his record has been mixed — he broke from many Republicans by voting against blocking a federal rule regulating pistol stabilizing braces, a notably moderate vote relative to his party’s typical stance.

Kean has also focused on energy policy, supporting measures like the Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act, and on technology and child safety, introducing the Safer GAMING Act to require safeguards protecting minors on gaming platforms. He has pressed AI companies on security practices and has secured federal funding for local police departments in his district.

Voting record

Kean’s voting record shows a pattern of institutional loyalty mixed with occasional bipartisan breaks — he voted for Mike Johnson as Speaker and supported the FY2026 defense authorization bill, while also co-sponsoring bipartisan measures like the Keep America Open Act. His attendance became a point of scrutiny: between March and June 2026, Kean missed all roll call votes recorded during that stretch, before resuming voting in late June, and his overall missed-vote rate across his House tenure has run well above the median for sitting representatives.

As he seeks reelection in the 2026 midterms, Kean’s profile as a moderate, establishment Republican with deep New Jersey roots remains central to his political identity in a competitive district.