Senate Minority Leader Thomas H. Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) said that he won’t decide until early next year whether he will seek re-election to the New Jersey State Senate or mount a second campaign or Congress in New Jersey’s 7th district.
“Rhonda, the girls and I are going to take the next few weeks over the holidays to determine how I can best serve the people of New Jersey,” Kean told the New Jersey Globe.
Kean came close to unseating freshman Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) last month, losing by just 5,311 votes, 50.6% to 49.4%.
Many Republicans think Kean would be a strong candidate against Malinowski in 2022, when Donald Trump is no longer president and Malinowski is running in Joe Biden’s mid-term election.
It’s possible that Kean could run for both offices. He won re-election to the Senate seat he’s held since 2003 by ten percentage points in 2017, but the 21st legislative district has become more Democratic over the last three years.
Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) announced today that he would not seek the Republican nomination for Governor in 2021 and instead would seek re-election to his 21st district Assembly seat.
If Kean opts out of the Senate race, Bramnick becomes the odds-on favorite to move up to the Senate.