Thomas Kean, Jr.

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Senator Tom Kean Jr.
Senator Tom Kean Jr.

Thomas Howard "Tom" Kean Jr. (born September 5, 1968) is an American Republican politician, serving in the New Jersey State Senate since 2003. He represents the 21st Legislative District, which covers parts of Union, Morris, Somerset and Essex Counties. On November 8, 2007 he was elected to serve as Minority Leader of the Senate. He was sworn in on January 8, 2008.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Kean is the son of Thomas Kean, who was a popular Governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990 and is even better known as the Chairman of the 9/11 Commission following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Kean is a graduate of the Pingry School and Dartmouth College and holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the prestigious Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he is currently completing his doctoral dissertation in international relations.[1] 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.[2]

Kean was appointed to the New Jersey 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.[3] 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.[1]

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 only twenty-four elected officials from across the USA to be chosen as a distinguished Aspen Rodel Fellow in Public Service. In 2002, Kean was named one of forty 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.

[edit] New Jersey District 21

Each of the forty 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 2008-2009 Legislative Session are:

Municipalities in the district include: Berkeley Heights Township, Chatham Township, Cranford Township, Garwood Borough, Harding Township, Long Hill Township, Madison Borough, Millburn Township, Mountainside Borough, New Providence Borough, Roselle Park Borough, Springfield Township, Summit City, Warren Township, Watchung Borough and Westfield Town.

[edit] 2006 campaign for U.S. Senate

Main article: New Jersey United States Senate election, 2006

Kean was the Republican nominee running for the United States Senate seat vacated by former U.S. Senator and current 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.[4]

He lost the general election to Menendez 53%-45%. The New Jersey Senate race was the closest victory for a Democratic incumbent in the country.[5]

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

[edit] State Senate

[edit] Ethics reform

[edit] Pay-to-play

On January 18, 2007 NJ State Senators Leonard Lance, Peter Inverso, and Tom Kean Jr. held a Statehouse press conference to discuss their intentions to force a vote on S-737 [1]. The bill is a comprehensive pay-to-play ban. [2]

The motion failed when 18 Republicans and Democrat Ellen Karcher voted in favor of the motion, leaving it two short of passage. [3]

[edit] Dual office holding

Kean is an original sponsor of S-70, which would ban dual office holding. [4]

A ban on dual office holding has been considered as part of the State Legislature's focus on reducing property taxes. [5][6][7]

[edit] Economic development

Kean is the sponsor of the New Jersey Economic Development Act. [8]

[edit] Finance

The District 21 legislators threatened a lawsuit against the State Treasurer for proposing bonding Tobacco settlement money for a period longer than allowed by the State Consititution. [9]

[edit] Environment

Kean is a co-sponsor of "The Global Warming Response Act." [10][11]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Senator Thomas H. Kean Jr. legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed April 17, 2008.
  2. ^ Chen, David W. "For Menendez and Kean, a Fierce First Debate", The New York Times, June 26, 2006. Accessed March 7, 2008. "Then, a few minutes later, the most dramatic exchange occurred when Mr. Kean sought to contrast his own background and record in Westfield, a wealthy suburb, with Mr. Menendez's in Hudson County."
  3. ^ Bowman, Bill. "Ex-governor's son swims upstream", Asbury Park Press, September 27, 2003. Accessed April 17, 2008. "Kean, who was appointed to the Assembly in March 2001 upon the resignation of the late Alan Augustine, won re-election in 2001. He was appointed to his 21st District Senate seat earlier this year after the resignation of Richard H. Bagger."
  4. ^ Unofficial List - Candidates for US Senate - For June 2006 Primary Election, dated June 7, 2006
  5. ^ http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/states/NJ/ Election Results 2006 for US Senate: NJ, CNN.com, November 8, 2006.

[edit] External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Rich Bagger		 New Jersey State Senator - District 21
January 2003 - present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
Bob Franks		 Republican Nominee for the U.S. Senate (Class 1) from New Jersey
2006		 Succeeded by
election to be held in 2012
Preceded by
Leonard Lance		 Minority Leader of the New Jersey Senate
2008 - present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Current members of the New Jersey Senate
This box: view • talk • edit

1: Jeff Van Drew (D)
2: Jim Whelan (D)
3: Stephen M. Sweeney (D)
4: Fred H. Madden (D)
5: Dana Redd (D)
6: John Adler (D)
7: Diane Allen (R)
8: Phil Haines (R)
9: Christopher J. Connors (R)
10: Andrew R. Ciesla (R)

11: Sean T. Kean (R)
12: Jennifer Beck (R)
13: Joseph M. Kyrillos (R)
14: Bill Baroni (R)
15: Shirley Turner (D)
16: Christopher Bateman (R)
17: Bob Smith (D)
18: Barbara Buono (D)
19: Joseph Vitale (D)
20: Raymond Lesniak (D)

21: Thomas Kean, Jr. (R)
22: Nicholas Scutari (D)
23: Leonard Lance (R)
24: Steve Oroho (R)
25: Anthony Bucco (R)
26: Joseph Pennacchio (R)
27: Richard Codey (D)
28: Ronald Rice (D)
29: Teresa Ruiz (D)
30: Robert Singer (R)

31: Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D)
32: Nicholas Sacco (D)
33: Brian P. Stack (D)
34: Nia Gill (D)
35: John Girgenti (D)
36: Paul Sarlo (D)
37: Loretta Weinberg (D)
38: Robert M. Gordon (D)
39: Gerald Cardinale (R)
40: Kevin J. O'Toole (R)
Democrat (23 seats) | Republican (17 seats)