Election 2026
Independent, source-first accountability
Issue record
In short
Thomas Kean Jr.'s congressional site calls restoring the full SALT deduction a top priority. Rebecca Bennett's campaign would fully restore it, cut housing red tape, pass paid family leave and fully fund elder care. No campaign site or statement was found for Seamus Patrick O'Toole. On the record, Kean cosponsored a bill to end the SALT cap, still in committee, and voted for a 2025 law raising the cap to $40,000 until 2030.
Campaign positions
His campaign says he is working to lower the cost of living. His congressional site calls restoring the full state and local tax (SALT) deduction one of his most important priorities, saying the cap is double taxation that unfairly penalises New Jerseyans.
Would fully restore the SALT deduction, cut red tape to increase housing supply and make housing more affordable, pass paid family leave and fully fund elder care.
No campaign site, platform or public statement was found. Seven likely campaign domains have no DNS record, the state's contact list gives only an email address, no FEC registration exists, and the one news report found describes his petition, not his views.
Evidence timeline
official action
He cosponsored bills to repeal the SALT cap and voted for the 2025 tax law, which raised the cap to $40,000 but kept it, and returns it to $10,000 in 2030.
His congressional site calls restoring the full state and local tax deduction one of his most important priorities, and says he cosponsored the SALT Deductibility Act. He is an original cosponsor of H.R. 430, the SALT Deductibility Act, which would repeal the cap; it has not left committee. He voted Yea on passage of H.R. 1 on May 22, 2025 (Roll Call 145) and Aye on the final House vote on July 3 (Roll Call 190). The law, Public Law 119-21, raises the cap from 10,000 dollars to 40,000 for 2025, rising one per cent a year through 2029. It shrinks by 30 per cent of income above 500,000 dollars, never below 10,000, and returns to 10,000 dollars in 2030. In the previous Congress he cosponsored three SALT bills, H.R. 2555, H.R. 160 and H.R. 7160, and voted Aye on the rule to bring H.R. 7160 to the floor, which failed on February 14, 2024 (Roll Call 48). Limit: He sponsored no SALT bill of his own in either Congress, and his votes went the way the claim says. The law he voted for raised the cap and kept it; that is not the full restoration his page names, and the higher cap ends after 2029. His office's claim that he "led the fight" is not something a vote record can measure.
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Kean for Congress Inc · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Campaign-controlled source; the "Paid for by Kean for Congress Inc" line matches the committee's filed website, WWW.TOMKEAN.COM. It carries one paragraph of positions and links X (@keanforcongress), Facebook (KeanForCongress), Instagram (@tomkean) and YouTube. Its Media page carries no content.
candidate statement
For: Thomas H. Kean Jr.: campaign position
Office of Rep. Thomas H. Kean, Jr. · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
His congressional office's issue page, in his own voice. Also lists his office's releases on the subject, including a February 27, 2026 roundtable on the "restored" deduction and an opinion piece titled "Kean: I led the fight to restore N.J.'s property tax deduction".
candidate statement
For: Thomas H. Kean Jr.: campaign position; Thomas H. Kean Jr.: Matches stated direction
Rebecca Bennett for Congress · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Campaign priority page.
candidate statement
For: Rebecca Bennett: campaign position
New Jersey Division of Elections · Published Jul 27, 2026 · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
The state's contact list for general-election House candidates. For O'Toole it gives only a Gmail address named for his ballot slogan; it lists no website for any candidate.
official election record
For: Seamus Patrick O'Toole: campaign position
Federal Election Commission · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Read from OpenFEC on September 23, 2026: fourteen registered 2026 candidates for this seat, including Kean (H0NJ07261), Bennett (H6NJ07201) and Leguía (H4NJ07164). No Seamus O'Toole is registered for this seat, and a name search of New Jersey candidates for O'Toole returned no one.
fec filing
For: Seamus Patrick O'Toole: campaign position
New Jersey Globe · Published Jun 9, 2026 · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Reports that O'Toole filed 299 signatures against a 250 threshold, that an administrative law judge upheld 17 challenged signatures, and that the challenge was withdrawn. The only reporting found that describes him at all, and it describes his candidacy, not his views.
original reporting
For: Seamus Patrick O'Toole: campaign position
Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Sponsored by Rep. Garbarino. Kean is an original cosponsor, from January 15, 2025. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, where it remains.
official legislative record
For: Thomas H. Kean Jr.: Matches stated direction
Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Recorded vote of May 22, 2025, passed 215 to 214. Kean: Yea. On Roll Call 144 the same day, a motion to recommit, he voted Nay, which is a vote against sending the bill back.
official legislative record
For: Thomas H. Kean Jr.: Matches stated direction
Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Recorded vote of July 3, 2025, passed 218 to 214. Kean: Aye.
official legislative record
For: Thomas H. Kean Jr.: Matches stated direction
Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Enacted text read from GovInfo (PLAW-119publ21). Section 70120 replaces the 10,000 dollar cap on the deduction for state and local taxes with 40,000 dollars for 2025, 40,400 for 2026 and one per cent more each year through 2029, reduced by 30 per cent of income above 500,000 dollars but not below 10,000, and returning to 10,000 dollars from 2030. Section 71119 requires states to set Medicaid community engagement (work) requirements for certain adults. Section 50102 orders at least 30 Gulf of America oil and gas lease sales through 2040.
official legislative record
For: Thomas H. Kean Jr.: Matches stated direction
Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Sponsored by Rep. Garbarino. Kean is an original cosponsor, from April 10, 2023. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, where it stayed.
official legislative record
For: Thomas H. Kean Jr.: Matches stated direction
Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Sponsored by Rep. Mike Garcia. Kean cosponsored it on March 9, 2023. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, where it stayed.
official legislative record
For: Thomas H. Kean Jr.: Matches stated direction
Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Sponsored by Rep. Lawler. Kean is an original cosponsor, from January 31, 2024. The rule for its consideration, H. Res. 994, failed, so it never got a floor vote.
official legislative record
For: Thomas H. Kean Jr.: Matches stated direction
Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Recorded vote of February 14, 2024, failed 195 to 225. Kean: Aye. H. Res. 994 was the rule for considering H.R. 7160 and H. Res. 987, a resolution on the Biden administration's energy policies.
official legislative record
For: Thomas H. Kean Jr.: Matches stated direction