Former Treasury secretary Nicholas Brady, who served as a Republican senator from New Jersey in 1982, tells National Review Online that Governor Chris Christie should pick Republican state senator Tom Kean Jr. for the Senate seat last held by the late Frank Lautenberg, who passed away on Monday.
“Tom Kean Jr. is the ideal candidate,” Brady says in a phone interview. “He has the experience and wide appeal that makes him a perfect fit for the position, and I hope Governor Christie feels the same way. We need to have a Republican senator who can win in the cities and suburbs, and Tom can do that. He also has a very good relationship with the governor, which is important for a sitting senator.”
Brady was appointed to the Senate by Kean Jr.’s father, former governor Tom Kean Sr. Some Trenton insiders have speculated that Kean Sr. could be tapped, but Brady doesn’t think that’ll happen. ”Nobody is better than Tom Kean Sr., but people are wasting their breath if they think he’s going to come out of retirment,” he says. “With Tom Kean Jr., you get a known quanitity, a quality man, and someone who could do the job for many years.”