We are now just 41 days out from the November general election, and new Jersey will potentially play a pivotal role, with all 12 members of the House and one U.S. Senate seat up for grabs.

Helping to decide the balance of power in Congress, but covering the reelection campaign of one Republican incumbent has become more like a game of chase.

Congressman Tom Kean Jr. has ignored or avoided questions and interviews from our team of reporters.

And apparently the new Jersey press corps effectively giving the silent treatment to those tasked with holding elected officials accountable.

Our Washington, D.C., correspondent Ben Hulac, this week recorded one of his attempts to talk with Congressman Kean.

And here's what happened.

Take a look.

Do you regret endorsing Donald Trump, or would you would you welcome.

Him in the district?

How are you going to vote on the CR?

You're in favor of mass deportations in new Jersey in the seventh district.

What about Ukraine?

Do you think Trump will do enough to support Ukraine in the war effort?

Taiwan.

You pick the topic.

I'd love to talk to you about literally anything.

The wrong way.

Anything in.

What happened for lunch?

I'm trying, sir, to get your sense on a topic of.

Truly.

You name it.

We could talk about the Yankees, the Mets, the Giants, NJ transit and Ben who like, is joining me now from D.C. Ben.

That was honestly a little uncomfortable to watch.

I mean, walk me through sort of how that all transpired.

That that is, really sort of an average interaction for me with Congressman Kean.

That was maybe the seventh or eighth, maybe more time I tried to interview him on basically anything.

I've, I've worked for spotlight for eight months.

I've covered Congress for a decade, and he has given me webcasts on any topic.

I would point out I'm wearing my credential.

This is something that gets me into places where the public cannot go.

And as the eyes and ears of New Jerseyans, I'm one of two full time new Jersey reporters down here.

This is something, this is standard, and it makes it really hard to understand where he is on any topic.

You know, when you talk to other Republican strategists, they'll say, listen, you know, he doesn't need to do conventional interviews with press reporters.

It's not getting him into the eyes and ears of constituents because he's doing one on ones.

He's doing, town hall events.

Is that true?

I mean, and and what's lost when we, as the press corps can't hold folks accountable or give that layer of transparency?

That is our very job.

And the reason that we're here.

Right.

And and I can really speak from the Washington perspective.

You know, my task is to cover 12 House members, two senators.

That together is that New Jersey delegation for Congress?

What's lost is really, a sense of why they're doing what they're doing.

Why?

You know, Congressman, did you vote on X?

Why do you support, a bill on pick your topic?

I get it.

Mr. Kean is such a blank slate.

It is really difficult to understand where he is on any issues.

So when you talk about the fact that you've covered, the Congress for a decade, new Jersey delegation for almost a year now, do you run into this type of situation with other members?

Is this pretty unique and specific to Tom Kean or is this, tactic that we're seeing deployed by other folks and other candidates?

It's a it's a really good question.

This is my third newsroom covering Washington.

As you said, I've been here about a decade, since 2014.

I have interviewed hundreds of lawmakers, Ted Cruz, Elizabeth Warren, all sorts of slices on the political spectrum.

Mr. Kean is the only person in my career who has ever just pretended I do not exist.

Well, and we should note, we've been dropping, you know, episodes of our Election Exchange podcast where we've had his Democratic challenger on.

We were unable to get through to his campaign to get a response of any sort.

So how does this play out, then, when someone's up for reelection?

How does it change how you're able to write a story or to present information to readers and viewers?

I'm really stuck with whatever public record I can dredge up.

A lot of my reporting on Mr. Kean is about how he may have voted on a given topic, what he did in committee, where he stands in relation to the broader national Republican Party.

It's very Oyston, I would say, and control when lawmakers don't talk to the press, they are only putting out messages that they want to go out.

And that really hurts my view of the public and undermines an informed constituency, an informed voter bloc.

And this is not Partizan.

I would underscore, after I followed Mr. Kane there to try to show what interacting with him is like.

I talked with Jeff Van Drew, another Republican from new Jersey, maybe an hour or two later, and we'd written top stories on him, talk about their stories.

He talked with me for eight, nine, ten minutes.

So this is within new Jersey, simply distinct to Congressman came.

Our eyes and ears in Washington Ben Hulac for us.

Ben, thanks so much.

Always a pleasure.