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NJ Rep. Tom Kean reaped as much $340K in June stock trades while missing from Congress


By

Mike Hayes

Published Jul 16, 2026


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U.S. Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. departs the U.S. Capitol on June 30.

 

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images


By

Mike Hayes

Published Jul 16, 2026


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Six trades the day he won the Republican primary. Three more on the day before he came back after missing from Congress for more than 100 days. And another trade on the day he gave a speech on the House floor revealing his absence was due to depression.

A Gothamist review of New Jersey Rep. Tom Kean Jr.’s latest periodic transaction report shows the New Jersey Congressional member made 18 stock trades in June. The report lists their values in ranges, but shows the amount of money Kean traded ranges from at least $46,000 to up to potentially $340,000.

The document shows that Kean certified the authenticity of the trades Wednesday.

Kean spokesperson Harrison Neely told Gothamist that the congressmember has a “blind structure in place” and does not personally handle stock trades. He referred Gothamist to a July 2025 report from the New Jersey Globe where Kean’s attorney, Steve Roberts, said Kean’s trades occur “without his input, prior knowledge, or direction.”

This report marks the third time it's been revealed Kean continued to trade stock even as he remained inaccessible to voters and the media, and even as he missed more than 100 votes on the House floor during an prolonged absence he only explained when it ended in late June.

According to non-profit online news outlet NOTUS, Kean signed off on five trades that happened between mid-April and May eight trades from March.

All together, these transactions total up to potentially over $600,000.

The embattled Republican is engaged in one of the closest watched midterm races in the country for House seat in New Jersey’s seventh district — a North Jersey swing district that has changed parties various times over the past several years. According to political watchdogs, Kean and his opponent, Democrat Rebecca Bennett, are running neck-and-neck.

“Tom Kean Jr. is a poster child for the failed culture of Washington corruption,” Bennett said. “While Kean Jr. is focused on enriching himself, I’ve already divested all of my individual stocks because there should never be a question about who I am running to serve.”

Earlier this year, Kean went missing in action. For months, he and his team provided only vague information that he was dealing with an illness, and no specific expected date for a return to public life. On June 30, Kean returned to public view with a speech on the House floor revealing that he’d been diagnosed with depression, leading to a long-term hospitalization.

His latest transaction report shows at least 10 of the trades that he made in June yielded a profit of at least $200. The holdings Kean traded included companies like Google, Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson.

Since his return to the campaign trail, Kean’s Instagram account shows him appearing at a Fourth of July parade in Mendham. He’s yet to do an extensive interview with the press or schedule a town hall, including the telephone town halls he’s held in years past. His campaign declined to provide any details about his upcoming public campaign schedule.

Tagged

Politics

new jersey


Mike Hayes

Mike Hayes covers equity and access to opportunity in New Jersey. He joined WNYC and Gothamist in 2023. Before that, he worked as a freelance journalist writing about policing and criminal justice. He has written for ProPublica, CNN, HuffPost, BuzzFeed News and The Appeal. He is also the author of the book, “The Secret Files: Bill De Blasio, The NYPD, and the Broken Promises of Police Reform.” In 2019, he was a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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