Police Were Called on a New York Times Reporter Barred From a Tom Kean Jr. Campaign Event

House Speaker Mike Johnson headlined a fundraiser for Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. at Hawk Pointe Golf Club in Washington Township, New Jersey, where New York Times reporter Tracey Tully was turned away at the door and someone inside later called police while she waited outside.

Key facts

Where: Hawk Pointe Golf Club, Washington Township, New Jersey
When: reported as a Friday in late August 2026; the exact date has not been independently confirmed
Who was turned away: New York Times reporter Tracey Tully, while a Fox News reporter and a reporter from a Pennsylvania TV station were let into the same event
Who headlined the fundraiser: House Speaker Mike Johnson
Kean’s absence: no House vote cast between March 5 and June 30, 2026; he later said he was hospitalized and treated for depression
The election: New Jersey’s 7th District, Nov. 3, 2026 — Kean vs. Democrat Rebecca Bennett; debate set for Sept. 27

The reporter turned away and the police call

Kean campaign spokesman Harrison Neely barred New York Times reporter Tracey Tully from entering, calling it a private event — but a Fox News reporter and a reporter from a Pennsylvania TV station were let into the same event. Neither Neely nor the Kean campaign has explained why those two outlets were admitted while Tully, specifically, was not, and the private-event rationale is hard to square with letting other press in.

While Tully waited outside in her car, someone at the event called police to report her as a possible trespasser. Washington Township Police Sgt. Dallas Overko responded to the call and later said he “didn’t know it was just a nice little reporter waiting for an interview,” adding that “there were some things lost in communication.”

What happened once Overko arrived has not been reported, and it is not known whether Tully was let into the event or spoke with police herself. Who inside the event placed the call in the first place is also unclear; Kean, Neely and Johnson’s office have not been confirmed as the source of that call.

Johnson on Kean’s absence

At the same fundraiser, Johnson was asked about Kean’s monthslong absence from Congress earlier this year. Johnson later told Tully that Kean “would have done it a little sooner” — meaning he would have disclosed the reason for the absence sooner than Kean did — while adding that Kean’s situation affects many Americans and that he understands why it unfolded the way it did.

Why Kean was absent from Congress

Recent attention appears to reflect two developments: Kean visibly resumed campaigning in the week of Aug. 22 after his medical absence, including a fundraiser breakfast, a TV interview and a joint appearance with Johnson in Washington Township; and coverage of the Johnson fundraiser, where Tully was turned away and police were called while she waited outside. He did not cast a House vote between March 5 and June 30, 2026, missing more than 100 roll-call votes, and his office initially described the absence only as a “personal medical issue.” His father, former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean Sr. — later chairman of the 9/11 Commission — told CNN in mid-May that his son was “under doctor’s care,” ahead of Kean’s own public disclosure.

Returning to the House floor on June 30, Kean told colleagues he had been hospitalized and treated for depression, framing the disclosure around destigmatizing the condition. He has said his doctors are confident he is on the road to a full recovery, with no long-term complications expected. Soon after returning, he introduced the Mental Health Parity Enforcement and Funding Act, which would give the U.S. Department of Labor added authority to enforce a 2008 law requiring insurers to treat mental and physical health coverage equally.

The race for New Jersey’s 7th District

Kean has confirmed he is running for a third term. Donald Trump endorsed him ahead of an unopposed Republican primary in June. His opponent this fall is Democrat Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot who won a four-way Democratic primary on June 2 with about 47% of the vote.

That is a different race than 2024, when Kean defeated Democrat Sue Altman, 51.7% to 46.3%, to win his second term. Kean first flipped the district in 2022, beating then-Rep. Tom Malinowski by three points, and has held it since. The Kean-Bennett general election is set for Nov. 3, 2026, with a debate between the two scheduled for Sept. 27, sponsored by the New Jersey Globe and Rider University.

Political reaction to the absence

The absence has already become a campaign issue. Democratic-aligned groups have run ads attacking it: Your Community PAC, a Democratic-aligned super PAC, launched a $289,000 digital ad buy attacking the absence, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ran a smaller ad on the same theme. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., publicly called the absence “embarrassing” and said she would not endorse Kean.

Election handicappers rate NJ-07 among the most competitive House races in the country this cycle — as of Aug. 11, the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it a toss-up, while Inside Elections and DDHQ/The Hill did not match that assessment; the exact direction of the Inside Elections rating is unclear in the available reporting.