Sean Kirrane, the Republican organization pick to take on Rep. Josh Gottheimer in New Jersey’s 5th district, didn’t vote at all in the 2024 presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
Voting records show that Kirrane registered to vote on July 22, 2024, nine months after purchasing a $1.1 million home in River-Vale. Records show that Kirrane used his New Jersey address on business filings as early as October 2023.
Kirrane says he was in the process of moving from Oklahoma to New Jersey and was in between residences.
“In the second half of 2024, Sean had sold his home in Oklahoma, but had not yet moved to his home in Bergen County,” said his campaign manager, Kasey Dearden. “Because of this transition, he didn’t feel it was proper to vote in either state, so he did not cast a vote in 2024.”
Dearden said that Kirrane has “cast his vote for Donald Trump and other strong leaders in the years before.” He said Kirrane voted for Jack Ciattarelli in last year’s gubernatorial race.
Kirrane has won endorsements from Republican organizations in Bergen and Passaic counties, but his abstention in the 20204 presidential election could be a problem for him as he seeks to establish credibility as a challenger in an uphill race.
“It’s difficult in our current politics to explain to your own party’s voters why you weren’t on the team for the election that mattered the most to them,” said Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. “How could you even begin to convince voters that the issues facing the nation are important enough to run, yet not important enough to have voted?”
Chandiha “Sandy” Gajapathy is also seeking the GOP nod to take on Gottheimer.
Voting records show that Kirrane is still a registered voter in Oklahoma. He voted in the 2018 Republican primary there, but skipped the general election that year. Kirrane lived in Oklahoma’s 4th district, where Republican Rep. Steve Russell lost his congressional seat to Democrat Kendra Horn by 1 percentage point.
Kirrane voted in the 2020 general election between Trump and Joe Biden, but missed the GOP primary and runoff election for Congress – both close races that picked the challenger who unseated Horn. He also missed the 2022 primary, runoff, and general elections in Oklahoma. Among the contests he was absent from was the race for an open U.S. Senate seat won by Republican Markwayne Mullin, now the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security-designate.
Gottheimer was among a group of House members who attended Mullin’s confirmation hearing today.
In 2025, Kirrane didn’t vote in the Republican gubernatorial primary or in a contested primary for State Assembly in the 39th legislative district in Bergen County.
Kirrane, 48, grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Bergen Catholic High School. He’s spent much of his career as what he calls a “drop-in executive,” helping to rescue businesses in trouble. That meant stints in out-of-state residencies, including Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The last time he voted in New Jersey was when he lived in Kinnelon in Morris County.