Rep. Richard Hudson, chair of the House Republicans’ campaign arm, said Rep. Tom Kean, R-N.J., called him yesterday afternoon to say he would return to the Capitol in June.
“I got no details about his condition, but I talked to him,” Hudson, R-N.C., told reporters as he left the House floor. “He sounded like the same old Tom. He said he’ll be back in June.”
Hudson said he didn’t ask Kean why he had been gone. “I think he’ll address it when he’s back,” Hudson said, adding that Kean assured him that he is running for re-election.
Kean spoke to the New Jersey Globe yesterday in his first interview since he last voted at the Capitol on March 5. “My doctors are confident that I’m on the road to a full recovery,” he said.
Two county Republican chairs in Kean’s New Jersey district also confirmed to NBC News that Kean called them yesterday.
“He’s doing great,” Joe LaBarbera, chair of the Sussex County Republican Committee, said in a phone call. “We had a great talk, and he says he’s going to win this election and he’s very confident. And he said, ‘Stand by.’ He goes, ‘We’re going to be hitting the road.’”
LaBarbera said he hadn’t been concerned about Kean’s absence. “His team assured me that everything was fine and that it was a private matter. I took it, I took it at value, because nothing Tom’s ever said or done has ever let me down.”
LaBarbera said that before his absence Kean was usually “always on speed dial whenever you need him.”
Carlos Santos, chair of the Union County Republicans, also confirmed in a text message that he spoke to Kean.