Sean T. Kean (born May 21, 1963) is an American Republican Party politician, who has served in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

since being sworn into office on January 10, 2012, representing the 30th legislative district, Prior to redistricting, Kean served in the New Jersey Senate from 2008 to 2012, representing the 11th legislative district. He had previously represented the 11th district in the General Assembly from 2002 to 2008.

Biography

Kean was born in Montclair, grew up in

Deal A deal, or deals may refer to: Places United States * Deal, New Jersey, a borough * Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * Deal Lake, New Jersey Elsewhere * Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia * Deal, Kent, a town in England * Deal, ...

and attended

Red Bank Catholic High School Red Bank Catholic High School is a four-year private coeducational Roman Catholic high school, located in Red Bank in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, operating under the supervision ...

. He is of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

heritage and has family ancestry in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

. Kean received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in 1988 from

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the ...

in Political Science, was granted an M.A.L.S. in 1992 from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in American Studies and was awarded a J.D. from the

Seton Hall University School of Law Seton Hall University School of Law is the law school of Seton Hall University, and is located in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Seton Hall Law is the only private law school in New Jersey, and, according to the ''U.S. News & World Report'' rankin ...

in 1995. Before becoming an attorney, Kean was a member of the Heavy and General Construction Laborers Local 472 Union (a branch of the

Laborers' International Union of North America The Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA, stylized as LiUNA!), often shortened to just the Laborers' Union, is an American and Canadian labor union formed in 1903. As of 2017, they had about 500,000 members, about 80,000 of whom ...

) in Newark from 1984 until 1988. Kean served as an aide to State Senator John O. Bennett from 1994 through 1996. He served on the Monmouth County Environmental Council from 1999 to 2001 and on the Wall Township Planning Board from 2001 to 2002. Prior to 1994, Kean had been registered a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. Kean is a resident of Wall Township where he lives with his wife Bridget and

triplets A multiple birth is the culmination of one multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such bi ...

born in July 2012. Kean formerly wrote a column titled "Legislative Matters" in '' The Coast Star'', a weekly local newspaper in Monmouth County. His column typically contains news from the statehouse in Trenton, opinions on issues facing his district, and criticism of the state's Democratic Party.

Legislative career

Kean first took his seat in the Assembly on October 28, 2002, following his selection by the District 11 Republican County Committee members to fill the vacancy created by the death of Assemblyman Thomas S. Smith. Despite not having the endorsement of Monmouth County Republican Chair William F. Dowd and the district's other Assemblyman Steve Corodemus, Kean won the special convention vote winning a majority of the vote (113 votes) on the first ballot defeating Long Branch councilman Anthony Giordano (81 votes) and former

Asbury Park Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 15,188

mayor Carl Williams (13 votes). He would win election to full two-year terms in 2003 and 2005. In the Assembly, he was the Assistant Republican Whip from 2004 to 2008. In his first stint in the Assembly, Kean served in the State Government Committee and the Transportation and Public Works Committee.Assemblyman Kean's Legislative Website
New Jersey Legislature. From

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

backup taken June 15, 2007. Accessed January 13, 2008. In 2007, 11th District Senator Joseph A. Palaia opted to retire at the end of his term. Kean sought election to the seat and defeated former professional football player and Assemblyman

John Villapiano John A. Villapiano (born November 17, 1951) is an American former professional football player who played in the World Football League and a Democratic Party politician who served on the Monmouth County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders an ...

63%-37%. During the first two years of his four-year Senate term, he served on the Legislative Services Commission, Labor, and Transportation Committees. In the next two years, he was a member of the Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee and the Transportation Committee. As a result of the 2011 legislative redistricting, Kean's hometown of Wall Township was placed into the 30th Legislative District setting up a potential primary election with fellow Republican Senator Robert Singer. Kean avoided such a fight by instead successfully running for election to the Assembly alongside David Rible (who was one of Kean's Assembly successors). In his current term in the Assembly, he is on the Consumer Affairs and Regulated Professions Committees.

Committees

Committee assignments for the current session are:Assemblyman Sean T. Kean
New Jersey Legislature. Accessed February 20, 2022. *Regulated Professions

District 30

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the

. The representatives from the 30th District for the 2022—23 Legislative Session are:Legislative Roster for District 30
New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 11, 2022. *Senator Robert Singer (R) *Assemblyman Sean T. Kean (R) *Assemblyman Ned Thomson (R)

Election history

References

External links

Assemblyman Sean T. Kean's Legislative Website
New Jersey Legislature *''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
20112010200920082007200620052004Sean T. Kean

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

New Jersey Voter Information Website 2003
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kean, Sean T. Living people 1963 births Catholics from New Jersey Columbia University alumni American people of Irish descent Republican Party New Jersey state senators Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly People from Deal, New Jersey People from Montclair, New Jersey People from Wall Township, New Jersey Politicians from Monmouth County, New Jersey Red Bank Catholic High School alumni Seton Hall University School of Law alumni 21st-century American politicians