Boosted by the strong academic and social foundation provided for him at Dartmouth, New Jersey State Sen. Tom Kean Jr. '90 is making a bid for a U.S. Senate seat in the 2006 elections.
Kean, who took office in 2003 after two years on New Jersey's General Assembly, is currently running unopposed in the Republican primary. Despite the fact that New Jersey has not elected a Republican senator in 30 years, Kean is optimistic about the November election.
"I think New Jersey is looking to make a positive change. They want positive solutions to the issues about which they care," Kean said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
Kean said his campaign will focus on using technology to connect with New Jersey voters.
"We will be contacting potential voters in ways that have not been used in the past three decades," Kean said.
Kean criticized overspending in Washington and said he plans to focus on fiscal responsibility, including a push for more risk-based distribution of Homeland Security funds.
"I want to see a government that is active and responsive. I try to get people engaged and be the catalyst for change," Kean said.
Kean comes from a long line of politicians, including his father, Tom Kean Sr., who served as New Jersey governor from 1982-1990 and last year was awarded a Dartmouth honorary degree for chairing the 9/11 Commission.
At Dartmouth, Kean was an active member of Psi Upsilon fraternity, where he held offices as treasurer and vice president.
"I've been around and involved in politics my entire life, so with my involvement at Dartmouth, I tried to experience a lot of different things," Kean said.
Kean said he has many fond memories of his years at Dartmouth.
"It's an incredible institution. The bonds that people forge there really do last a lifetime," Kean said, recalling his time studying abroad in Hungary, the excitement of the Homecoming bonfire and Psi Upsilon's Winter Carnival events.
Kean said he believes that his Dartmouth education and alumni connections have played a strong role in helping him build his political career.
"[Dartmouth] gave me an incredibly valuable education. It allowed me to meet a lot of people who had similar and some very divergent points of view, so that was a full experience for me," Kean said.
After graduation, Kean and five of his classmates worked closely with the Outing Club and, with a Dickey endowment, spent three months canoeing 69 miles down the Danube River to the Black Sea. After their expedition, the group made a presentation of their journey at Dartmouth.
Kean then moved down to Washington, D.C. where he worked at the Environmental Protection Agency, served as a volunteer firefighter and worked under Rep. Bob Franks, R-N.J. He then moved back to New England to teach graduate courses at Tufts, where he attended law school and earned his Ph.D. before becoming a state assemblyman and then state senator.
Kean now lives in Westfield, New Jersey with his wife, Rhonda. He has two daughters, 7-year-old Elizabeth and 2-year-old Meredith, although his first born, according to Kean, is Patriot, his Bernese Mountain Dog.
