Lisa McCormick, New Jersey’s leading progressive and a fierce advocate for universal health care and climate action, condemned Congressman Tom Kean Jr. for his latest misleading TV ad, which distorts the historical context of his 2006 election loss and falsely presents himself as a champion against corruption.
“Tom Kean Jr.’s recent ad is nothing but a desperate attempt to rewrite history and mislead voters,” said McCormick. “He is trying to exploit his 2006 race against Bob Menendez to distract from his own troubling record.”
“Kean is not the reformer he claims to be,” said McCormick. “In fact, his history is riddled with contradictions and ties to the very corruption he now pretends to fight.”
Kean’s ad references his 2006 race against Menendez, focusing on his imaginary fight against corruption. However, McCormick points out that Menendez, at the time of their contest, had not been implicated in the serious crimes for which he was later convicted.
McCormick, who garnered 159,998 votes against Senator Bob Menendez in the 2018 Democratic primary, argues that Kean’s portrayal of himself as a reformer is undermined by his own record.
“Kean’s claims of battling corruption are sheer balderdash,” McCormick continued. “He was the original sponsor of New Jersey’s pay-to-play legislation, a law that allows government contractors to essentially buy taxpayer-funded jobs through campaign contributions. This is a textbook example of the type of corruption that has plagued our political system.”
In addition to his legislative history, Kean’s financial dealings have also come under scrutiny. His federal financial disclosure reveals assets totaling at least $6.5 million and stock trades during the pandemic, including transactions involving companies like Johnson & Johnson and Becton, Dickinson & Co.
“While I’ve been fighting for universal health care and a clean energy economy,” McCormick said, “Kean has been cozying up to corporate interests and voting against critical climate protection measures. His support for H.R. 1, which would dismantle essential environmental protections and increase energy costs for families, is a direct threat to our planet and our future.”
McCormick raised several issues with the ad, particularly since Menendez —at the time Kean ran against him— had not been implicated in anything as serious as the crimes of which he was just convicted or those on which he was indicted in 2015.
“Leviticus 19:16 tells us, ‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life,’ but Kean accused his opponent of corruption long before those claims had any merit,” said McCormick. “Kean’s contention that he fought against corruption is balderdash when you realize that he’s the original sponsor of legislation that institutionalized New Jersey’s pay-to-play system.”
“Kean wrote the law that allows government contractors to virtually buy taxpayer-funded jobs and contracts from politicians with campaign contributions using part of the money they steal from the public treasury,” McCormick said. “As a close political ally of Governor Chris Christie and minority leader in the New Jersey Senate, Tom Kean Jr. wrote the law that established the state’s pay-to-play system, complete with loopholes so big Christie could fit through them.”
McCormick also criticized insider politician Kean’s vote for the establishment of a select committee on the Chinese Communist Party, which she argues is undermined by his family’s ties to China.
Kean said, “The Chinese Communist Party’s influence is the single greatest threat to our country today,” while his father is vice chair of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, known for its Ping Pong Diplomacy, introducing Chinese leaders to American economists and business executives, and reducing friction between the 21st century’s two greatest economic and military powers.
“Kean’s actions don’t align with his rhetoric,” McCormick said. “His actions are a stark contrast to the values he claims to uphold.”
As the race in New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District heats up, McCormick remains committed to her progressive agenda and calls on voters to hold Kean accountable for his record and misleading claims.
McCormick said she intends to vote for Sue Altman, the Democratic nominee who is Kean’s opponent.
“Democratic Sue Altman stands for equality, freedom, and opportunity,” McCormick said. “New Jersey deserves a representative who is genuinely committed to fighting corruption and advancing policies that benefit all working families, not just those with the most money and influence.”
McCormick noted that Kean deceptively hid a portion of his campaign website that catered to anti-abortion extremists, he cozied up to right-wing zealots accepting campaign contributions from hundreds of Hillary Clinton donors and serving as New Jersey’s leading Republican advocate for ‘critical race theory’ education.
“Kean pretends he is a moderate Republican, but he went full MAGA and voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to curry favor with the GOP’s Marjorie Taylor Greene and other extremists who failed to offer a shred of evidence that Mayorkas committed any high crimes or misdemeanors,” McCormick said. “Kean should have done much more to distance himself from the politics of disgraced, convicted, and twice-impeached former President Donald J. Trump as well as such crooked GOP leaders as deposed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Speaker Mike Johnson.”