So that means there’s a real good chance he won’t be back?
Haven’t heard anything new about Tom Kean lately. However, another Congressman, Chuck Edwards (R-NC), has been accused of sexual improprieties with staffers:
https://www.axios.com/2026/05/04/chuck-edwards-letter-house-ethics
Kean is still absent from Congress. To balance his absence, Frederica Wilson (D-FL) has also been absent for about a month.
https://newrepublic.com/maz/post/210433/democratic-lawmaker-missing-month-midterms
Both are running for reelection.
Unlike Kean, Wilson is very old, and my WAG is that she is physically unable to participate in her duties. They are trying to hide it as best as they can, Weekend at Bernie’s style, but at some point something is gonna give.
If that’s the case, she should drop out of the election. But that’s also the case for Kean, if he can’t handle the duties.
Agreed on both counts.
The Kean Jr case is very odd. Kean Sr came out with a statement saying he was under a doctors care with some sort of intensive inpatient care. They have been very careful to throw the word “medical” around a lot. If it was something like cancer I doubt they would have an issue talking about it. I can’t help but speculate that it’s either a serious mental health issue or he’s in drug/alcohol rehab.
I know this isn’t a great cite but the other one I had required a subscription. The information is the same.
I was thinking the same thing. It reminds me of what happens when celebrities withdraw from a project or otherwise leave the spotlight and they say it is due to “exhaustion” or a vague medical issue, when it turns out they are in rehab or a mental facility.
Latest word on Frederica Wilson is that she had eye surgery. She’ll be back on Wednesday.
Frederica Wilson has now announced her retirement from the House.
Tom Kean Jr has won his primary without showing his face. He was unopposed. It will be harder to pull off in the general. His opponent looks good on paper but since I no longer live in the district I haven’t really looked into her.
A Republican won an outright majority in the CA-01 primary, so apparently a general election is not required. The House now looks like this:
Rep: 219 (includes one Independent who caucuses with the Rs.)
Dem: 212
Vacant: 4
However, Tom Kean is still absent, so that effectively reduces the Republican count by one. Frederica Wilson has returned after her eye surgery, so the Ds are potentially at full strength. I say “potentially”, because there are frequent absences from both parties due to representatives campaigning for reelection.
Elections to fill vacancies:
CA 14 – primary: Jun 16; general: Aug 18 [D favored]
GA 13 – general: July 28; runoff (if needed) Aug 25 [D favored]
TX 23 – date not set.
FL 20 – date not set.
Apparently, the last two districts are not going to have special elections, no doubt due to politics.
I sort of wondered if they did that, with the jungle primaries. Of course, the primary probably has lower turnout than the general, but still, an outright majority in an anyone-can-run primary is no mean feat, and it’d be very unlikely that the higher turnout in a general could change that.
Edit: Never mind I misunderstood that this was about the special.