Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) returned to the campaign trail in New Jersey’s 7th congressional district over the Independence Day weekend, marching in a parade in Morris County attended by several thousand area residents.
Kean, a two-term Republican, returned to Washington on June 30 after disclosing that he had spent several months hospitalized for treatment of depression. Over the holiday weekend, he took part in the Brookside July 4 Parade in Mendham Township, signaling a return to campaigning ahead of his 2026 re-election bid.
“I was happy to have the opportunity to celebrate America’s 250th this weekend in Mendham,” Kean told the New Jersey Globe. “My campaign is in full swing, and I am engaging with folks around the district about the issues they care about.”
The appearance marked Kean’s most visible campaign event since March.
Mendham Township Mayor Sarah Neibart said that Kean is a regular attendee at the July 4 parade.
“It was great to see Congressman Kean there,” Neibart said.
Kean’s wife, Rhoda, accompanied him as he walked through Mendham Township.
His Democratic challenger, former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett, spent the holiday weekend campaigning elsewhere in the district, making appearances in Bernardsville and Lebanon.
Both candidates saw their public schedules curtailed by periods of inclement weather that disrupted some Independence Day festivities across central and northwestern New Jersey.
Kean’s return to public appearances comes days after he delivered a speech on the House floor describing his struggle with depression and encouraging others facing mental health challenges to seek treatment. He said physicians persuaded him to remain hospitalized for several months after determining that inpatient care offered the fastest path to recovery.
He was already headed into one of the nation’s most competitive congressional contests before March, when he left Congress for roughly four months to seek medical treatment. The 7th district voted for Republican Donald Trump by one percentage point in 2024 and for Democrat Mikie Sherrill by two points last year.
The scion of one of America’s founding families, Kean’s great-grandfather’s great-grandfather was John Kean, a member of the Continental Congress whom George Washington picked to audit the books of the Continental Army. His father, Thomas H. Kean, was a popular two-term governor of New Jersey in the 1980s; his grandfather was a ten-term congressman, and his great-grandfather was a U.S. Senator.
