Kean University

Republican Rep. Thomas H. Kean Jr. lost his New Jersey House seat to Democrat Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter and test pilot with 15 years of military service, delivering Democrats a pickup in their effort to retake the chamber. Kean, 58, had missed roughly four months of votes starting in early March, citing an unspecified health issue, and did not disclose until his return in late June that he had been receiving inpatient treatment for depression. Democrats made his lack of transparency a central campaign issue. Bennett said Kean called to congratulate her and pledge a peaceful transition. The result flips a competitive district Kean had held since 2022.

Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. faces a tight reelection fight in New Jersey's 7th Congressional District, a race seen as a bellwether amid broader shifts in state politics. Kean, part of a political dynasty dating to the state's first governor, has tied himself closely to President Donald Trump, a move critics say conflicts with the moderate "Kean brand" built by his father, former Gov. Tom Kean Sr.

Once-reliable Republican suburbs like Somerset County have trended Democratic in the Trump era. A Kean loss would mark at least the third New Jersey GOP political dynasty ousted since Trump's rise, underscoring the collapse of the state's old patrician Republican order.