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New Jersey’s Tom Kean Jr. loses House race to Rebecca Bennett after prolonged medical absence

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Bullis, H. (2026, November 4). New Jersey’s Tom Kean Jr. loses House race to Rebecca Bennett after prolonged medical absence. Washington Examiner. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/4785103/tom-kean-jr-nj-07-results/

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Washington Examiner · collected 2026-11-04 · by Hailey Bullis

Quick Summary

Rebecca Bennett defeated incumbent Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, securing a Democratic win that flips a previously Republican-held seat. The race was called for Bennett at 9:48 p.m. Eastern after she garnered about 60% of the vote compared to Kean’s 38%, with nearly two-thirds of ballots counted. Kean had been absent from Capitol Hill for around four months due to depression, missing over 100 votes during this period. Democrats used his prolonged absence as a key issue in their campaign strategy against him.
Written by AI on 2026-11-05, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On November 4, 2026, Democrat Rebecca Bennett defeated Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr., flipping New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District for Democrats in their bid to gain control of the House. Kean, who was absent from Capitol Hill for nearly four months (March 5 to June 30) due to depression and missed over 140 votes, faced criticism during his absence and lost significant support from super PACs in the final weeks of the campaign. Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, campaigned on transparency regarding health issues and criticized Kean’s lack thereof. The district had previously been held by Republicans but flipped hands in each of the last two midterm elections.

Written for “Tom Kean Loses House Race” on 2026-11-06, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Tom Kean Loses House Race
Politics · 4 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
GOP Rep. Tom Kean loses re-election bid after monthslong absence from Congress this year Same event
NBC News
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 18 claims Outlet record 72/100
GOP Rep. Tom Kean loses House seat after monthslong absence from Congress Same event
The Independent
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 9 claims Outlet record 59/100
Battleground Republican declares he is 'stronger than ever' as he addresses scrutiny over missed votes Different event
Fox News
Hedges 0 of 12 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A describes Rep. Tom Kean Jr.'s response to scrutiny about his missed votes, while Article B reports on the outcome of the House race in New Jersey's 7th District where Kean lost to Rebecca Bennett.”
GOP Rep. Tom Kean Jr. ousted in New Jersey Same event
CBS News
Hedges 1 of 12 claims Outlet record 69/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
10
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 10 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
69/100
Washington Examiner's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

Hailey Bullis
40 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 A battle for who will lead House Republicans for the last two years of Donald Trump’s presidency broke out mere hours after the party lost its majority, setting the stage for a major shake-up of the party’s top brass.
2026-11-04 · assertive framing · House GOP faces leadership scramble after midterm romp
🔮 House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told staff Wednesday morning that he will not seek to become House minority leader in the next Congress, sources familiar with the matter told the Washington Examiner.
2026-11-04 · assertive framing · Mike Johnson won’t run for minority leader after steep GOP midterm losses
🔮 Democrats are projected to retake the House majority in the 120th Congress, ending Republicans‘ trifecta in Washington to cap a night in which they sailed to victory in both chambers of Congress.
2026-11-04 · mixed framing · Democrats cap off midterm night to remember as they clinch 218 seats to win House to go with Senate sweep
🔮 “From the first day of this election, we knew that to keep the House and sustain our majority, we would have to defy more than a century of midterm history,” Johnson said.
2026-11-04 · assertive framing · Mike Johnson says it ‘looks like history will be kept’ for Republicans losing House majority
🔮 Bennett and Democrats sought to use his absence against him on the campaign trail, with Bennett telling reporters following the pair’s only debate that she would have been more transparent if she were in Kean’s position.
2026-11-04 · assertive framing · New Jersey’s Tom Kean Jr. loses House race to Rebecca Bennett after prolonged medical absence
🔮 It’s unclear whether Stevens’s decision to endorse Rogers with only two days left before the election will affect the outcome of the race.
2026-11-03 · mixed framing · Jewish voters put in spotlight in Michigan Senate race after Stevens and el Sayed feud
🔮 The 2026 election cycle now in its final days will be the most expensive midterm ever, according to figures tabulated by tracking firm AdImpact.
2026-10-29 · speculative framing · The 10 most expensive House races of the 2026 midterm elections
🔮 Maine’s local AFL-CIO President Cynthia Phinney called it “mystifying and insulting” that Collins would campaign with Manchin, citing his work as an adviser for the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, which Phinney claimed is responsible for “killing hundreds of Maine jobs.”
2026-10-21 · assertive framing · Maine AFL-CIO calls Susan Collins campaigning with Joe Manchin ‘insulting’
🔮 House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) isn’t buying the flurry of polls forecasting a potential blue wave in next month’s midterm elections, instead attributing the GOP’s standing to difficulty in reaching their own voters.
2026-10-15 · assertive framing · Mike Johnson says it’s hard to get Republicans to respond to ‘our own polling’
Also by Hailey Bullis
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House GOP faces leadership scramble after midterm romp
2026-11-04 · Washington Examiner
Mike Johnson won’t run for minority leader after steep GOP midterm losses
2026-11-04 · Washington Examiner
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 40 articles by Hailey Bullis →

Topics

Capitol Hill Democrats House Navy New Jersey’s

Subjects

Bennett PERSON · 6× Kean PERSON · 6× Democrats NORP · 3× Capitol Hill ORG · 2× House ORG · 2× New Jersey’s GPE · 2× Navy ORG · 1× Rebecca Bennett PERSON · 1× The Associated Press ORG · 1× Tom Kean Jr. PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Bennett and Democrats sought to use his absence against him on the campaign trail, with Bennett telling reporters following the pair’s only debate that she would have been more transparent if she were in Kean’s position.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-05
🔮 Bennett and Democrats sought to use his absence against him on the campaign trail, with Bennett telling reporters following the pair’s only debate that she would have been more transparent if she were in Kean’s position.
2026-11-05 · Washington Examiner
New Jersey’s Tom Kean Jr. loses House race to Rebecca Bennett after prolonged medical absence · assertive framing

Claims (10 extracted, 0 hedged)

Former Navy pilot Rebecca Bennett, 39, has defeated incumbent Rep. Tom Kean Jr. for New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, flipping a key seat for Democrats as they seek to retake control of the House. asserted
they → defeat → House
The Associated Press called the race for Bennett at 9:48 p.m. Eastern. asserted
Press → call → p.m.
With 65% of ballots counted, Bennett had roughly 60% of the vote, compared with 57-year-old Kean, who had 38%. asserted
who → count → %
Kean’s loss comes after his monthslong absence from Capitol Hill due to depression earlier this year. asserted
loss → come → depression
Kean was absent from Capitol Hill for roughly four months and missed over 100 votes; few details were shared with the public during that time regarding his condition. asserted
details → miss → condition
President Donald Trump narrowly carried this suburban New York district in 2024. asserted
Trump → carry → 2024
Bennett and Democrats sought to use his absence against him on the campaign trail, with Bennett telling reporters following the pair’s only debate that she would have been more transparent if she were in Kean’s position. asserted
she → seek → position
Bennett also tied Kean to Trump, who has been plagued by low approval ratings in his second term. asserted
who → tie → term
The flipping of New Jersey’s 7th District marks a significant victory for Democrats’ efforts to gain control of the House. asserted
flipping → mark → House
Recent polling had Bennett leading Kean by 5 points. asserted
Bennett → have → points
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