Thomas Kean Jr.

Early life

Kean is a descendant of an old American family. On his grandmother's side, he is a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch colonial governor of New Amsterdam (now known as New York). His great-grandmother, Katharine Winthrop, was a direct descendant of John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He is also a direct descendant of Thomas Dudley (1576 – 1653), governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who has signed the Harvard College's charter. His father is Thomas Howard Kean, Sr., 48th Governor of New Jersey. His grandfather is Robert Kean, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey. His great-grandfather, Hamilton Fish Kean, and great-great-uncle, John Kean, were both U.S. senators. His second great-great-uncle was Hamilton Fish, a U.S. senator, New York governor, and U.S. secretary of state. He is also a relative of William Livingston, the first governor of New Jersey.

Kean was born in Livingston, New Jersey, the son of Deborah (née Bye) and Thomas Kean, who was Governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990 and Chairman of the 9/11 Commission following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. He grew up on the family's estate in Livingston.

Kean is a graduate of the Pingry School and Dartmouth College and holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he completed doctoral studies ABD in international relations. He is a former aide to former Congressman Bob Franks and was a special assistant at the United States Environmental Protection Agency in the George H. W. Bush administration. He has also been a volunteer firefighter and a volunteer emergency medical technician. Kean currently resides in Westfield, New Jersey with his wife, Rhonda, and their two daughters.

Political career

Kean sought the Republican nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, but was unsuccessful. He lost the Republican primary to Mike Ferguson by about 4,000 votes, finishing second in a field of four candidates.

Kean was appointed to the General Assembly, the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature, in April 2001, to fill out the unexpired term of Alan Augustine, who had resigned on March 21, 2001, due to health reasons. He then was elected to a full term in the Assembly in his own right in November 2001. In the Assembly, he was the Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee and served as Vice Chairman for the State Government Committee.

In March 2003, he was appointed to the New Jersey Senate to fill out the unexpired term of Rich Bagger. In November 2003, he was elected to fill the seat he had been appointed to. In 2004, Kean was elected Senate Minority Whip, a position he held until 2007. He serves in the Senate on the Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee.

In the state legislature, Kean has been a proponent of ethics reform in New Jersey government. He was the original sponsor of legislation banning pay to play practices in New Jersey. He has sponsored legislation to streamline government, promote education, protect the environment, and lower property taxes. Kean was one of 24 elected officials chosen as an Aspen Rodel Fellow in Public Service. In 2002, Kean was named one of 40 state leaders from the entire nation to be recognized as a Toll Fellow by the Council of State Governments for high achievement and service to state government. In 2005, the New Jersey Conference of Mayors named Kean as a Legislative Leader. He has also received, for the second year in a row, the Amerigroup Foundation’s Champion for Children award for his advocacy on behalf of children's health issues. He also has been named Legislator of the year by the Fireman’s Benevolent Association and has received a 100% voting record with the National Federation of Independent Business.

2006 campaign for U.S. Senate

Kean was the Republican nominee running for the United States Senate seat vacated by former U.S. Senator and former Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine, a seat now filled by Corzine's designated replacement, Bob Menendez. Kean was the winner of the June 6, 2006 primary against conservative John P. Ginty, by a 3–1 margin.

After a hard-fought campaign, he lost the general election to Menendez by 53.3% to 44.3%. The New Jersey Senate race was the closest victory for a Democratic incumbent in the country.

Kean was endorsed by The Courier-Post, The Press of Atlantic City, and Asbury Park Press.

State Senate

Kean has unveiled a broad proposal to make New Jersey more affordable through budget savings and including long term strategies to provide more property tax relief and prevent toll increases. [1]

Since joining the legislature in 2001, Kean has pushed for comprehensive ethics reform to curb the influence of campaign contributions receiving inflated government contracts.

As a member of the Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee, Kean has focused on chronic disease management as a long term solution to lower healthcare costs. Kean has also promoted a "four point plan" to make New Jersey a leader in alternative fuel development.

In 2004, Kean introduced legislation to prohibit investment of public money in companies doing business in Sudan because of that country's failure to prevent genocide in Darfur and its human rights abuses that include severe restrictions on the freedoms of assembly, association, movement and speech. The bill passed with bipartisan support and made New Jersey the second state in the country to divest from Sudan. Kean has also supported public interest campaigns to end violence against women in Darfur.

Following the 2013 New Jersey gubernatorial election, Kean successfully defeated an attempt by Chris Christie to remove Kean as the Senate minority leader. Kean has been floated as a possible candidate in the 2017 Governor's race.

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The other representatives from the 21st District for the 2016-2017 Legislative Session are: