Gov. Kean wants Lance back in Congress

Former Gov. Tom Kean wants Rep. Leonard Lance back in Congress.

“He’s one of the few people who can bring people together because he talks to everybody and everybody likes him, so in a day when you talk about half the country not talking to the other half, Leonard is exactly what you need,” Kean said after a Somerset Republicans Rally on Saturday. “If you could duplicate Leonard and send him to Washington, it’s exactly what you need to cure Congress.”

In his youth, Lance worked as Kean’s deputy counsel, and the two have been friends since then, Kean said. The former governor has also recorded a robocall for Lance’s campaign.

Kean’s support for Lance might help the candidate keep his seat in the face of a tough challenge from Former Assistant Secretary of State Tom Malinowski.

A Monmouth poll released in April found Kean was the state’s most popular living governor, and Lance’s calling Kean New Jersey’s “First Citizen” might not be too far off the mark for voters who were here under Kean’s tenure.

“I watched his career in the legislature, and it was characterized with courage, integrity, honesty–all the kinds of things you’re looking for, and Leonard had them all,” Kean said. “I worked down in Washington with him, and the interesting thing to see how Republicans and Democrats react when Leonard comes along because he’s very well respected in Washington, no matter which side you go to.”