U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski wants people to know that his CD-7 rival, Tom Kean Jr., is missing. “Last seen in public in Trenton on January 10th, 2022 while voting against legislation to protect a woman’s right to choose in New Jersey,” said the Malinowski Campaign, “he is now believed to be confined to his Westfield home, and not replying to repeated requests from the press and voters to appear at public forums and to answer questions about his views.”

With just under 50 days to go until election day, 7th District residents are increasingly concerned as Kean Jr. has held no town halls, agreed to no televised debates, and has spoken with no mainstream press outlets, Malinowski said.

“Sources close to Kean say his handlers worry that his positions on issues like the January 6th insurrection, gun safety, and Roe vs. Wade are out of step with New Jersey, and that he can only win by avoiding voters and letting dark money Super PACs do his talking for him. Concerns about his well being were heightened when his campaign wouldn’t even let him speak words in his latest campaign ad. The only proof of life voters and press have is his fever dream of a twitter feed, a hidden webpage tailored to the MAGA crowd, and highly scripted comments to right-wing media.”

Tom Kean Jr. has rejected all invitations to debate on television, including from NJ Spotlight, and ignored calls to appear alongside Malinowski on State of Affairs/NJTV, News 12 and CBS New York – all opportunities approved by the Democratic incumbent. And New Jersey’s press corps has noticed. If voters or reporters want to hear from Tom Kean, they have to donate to his campaign to attend closed door ticketed events.

In contrast, Malinowski has held over 130 public town halls, appears across diverse media platforms – from Fox News to News 12 New Jersey – and makes himself available to voters free of charge at every single opportunity.

“I am beginning to worry about Tom Kean Jr. He thinks he’s going to be our district’s next Congressman but nobody has seen or heard from him in months!” said Malinowski. “I hope he’s okay during this difficult time and that he turns up soon.”