Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) only uttered a single word on the House floor today: “Jordan.” But with that word, a vote for House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to be Speaker of the House, Kean has opened up a potentially damaging line of attack in his bid for re-election.
Both of Kean’s Democratic opponents in the highly competitive 7th congressional district, former New Jersey Working Families Party director Sue Altman and former U.S. State Department official Jason Blazakis, have released statements slamming Kean’s vote, saying that the right-wing Jordan is far out of step with the moderate politics of the 7th district.
“Tom Kean Jr. just voted for a man who in his personal life helped cover up sexual abuse and in his political life tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election and pass a national abortion ban,” Altman said. “Jim Jordan is a radical election denier who does not represent the values of this district and Tom Kean Jr. should be ashamed of his vote.”
“Tom Kean’s vote for Jim Jordan as Speaker shows who he truly is,” Blazakis said. “Kean’s vote enables the far-right fringes of the Republican Party and follows the marching orders of the disgraced former president, Donald Trump… After weeks of dysfunction, Tom Kean was unable to deliver and caved to the MAGA extremists in his party, leaving our country and New Jerseyans to pay the price.”
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the national Democratic group dedicated to defeating Kean and other vulnerable Republicans in 2024, also blasted Kean for “[giving] in to the most extreme fringes of his party.”
House Republicans nominated Jordan for the speakership last week after previous Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted on the House floor. Jordan was chosen after two rounds of secret-ballot votes, and Kean never disclosed how he voted in either contest.
Kean kept up that secrecy until this morning, when the New Jersey Globe reported that he would in fact vote for Jordan. But although Kean and fellow New Jersey Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) and Chris Smith (R-Manchester) all lined up behind Jordan, 20 other Republicans didn’t, which prevented Jordan from winning the speakership.
House Speakers tend to become boogeymen no matter the circumstances. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi was a key focus of Kean’s successful campaign against Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) in 2022, and whoever Republicans end up choosing to lead them will surely fill the same role for Altman and Blazakis.
But there’s a possibility that Jordan, a member of the House Freedom Caucus who has long been associated with right-wing causes, would be more of a headache than the average speaker. House Democrats have already begun a coordinated effort to tie Jordan to his opposition to abortion and his objection to the 2020 election; if he ultimately manages to win the speakership, those attacks can only be expected to increase.