In anticipation of Tom Kean Jr's expected return on June 30, Politico observed Monday that the congressman is likely to get more attention than he's ever gotten before.

Few would argue with that. And it begs the question, how will he handle it?

It's not an idle query, given the fact that under the best of times, the CD-7 congressman is not necessarily loquacious.

But that wasn't always the case. A trip back to the "ancient past" brings us to when Kean was in the state Legislature - first as an Assemblyman and then a Senator.
I was writing for the Morristown Daily Record at the time and very vividly recall seeing him at some sort of Morris County GOP event. This was probably close to 20 years ago.

At any rate, he was walking around drinking a bottle of beer.

On one hand, that's not a big deal. After all, we were in a banquet hall - the old Zeris Inn in Mountain Lakes.

Still, there are some politicians who fear being seen with anything stronger than chocolate milk.

I actually mentioned Kean and his bottle of beer in a subsequent column. It was a favorable mention - here's a guy acting like a normal person.

That Tom Kean Jr. seems long gone.
Beginning with his unsuccessful run for the House in 2020, and continuing with his two successful campaigns in 2022 and 2024, Kean, or perhaps his advisors, have taken a different approach.

That is to shield the candidate from most interactions with the press and public.

Political fundraisers are not required to be open to the press, but many candidates allow reporters to attend. Not so Kean, or at least in my experience.

A few years ago, the press was not allowed to cover what was billed as a "campaign kickoff." This would have been either in 2020 or 2022. It is incredibly unusual for campaign kickoffs to be private.

And everyone who cares about this stuff knows about the congressman's refusal to have "town halls."

Fast forward to 2026. Absent with an undisclosed medical issue since early March, reports are that Kean will be transparent about his ailment.
Just how will he do that?

With a formal press conference in front of a large D.C. press corps?

In private conversation with a few selected reporters?

In a statement?

As the Politico report noted, the attention on Kean will be enormous, considering his district is one of the most competitive in the nation.

And of equal relevance, will he change his campaign style and be more accessible to the press and public as we move along to November?

If so, buy that man a beer.