Inside U.S. Rep. Tom Kean Jr.’s Aug. 21 campaign fundraiser, former Yankees star and Republican congressional candidate Mark Teixeira posed for photos while stumping for New Jersey’s 7th District incumbent.

And just outside the entrance to Washington Township’s Hawk Pointe Golf Club, a New York Times reporter lingered in the parking lot, barred from entering by Kean’s spokesman, Harrison Neely.

As Kean and Teixeira worked the room, Times reporter Tracey Tulley was dealing with Washington Township Sgt. Dallas Overko. Police were called to the premises for a reported trespasser — Tulley herself.

Tulley later detailed the incident in a Times article titled “We Tried to Cover a Tom Kean Campaign Event. Someone Called the Police.”

“The officer, Sgt. Dallas Overko, amiably assessed the situation. He seemed somewhat confounded by the call,” Tulley wrote.

“I didn’t know it was just a nice little reporter waiting for an interview,” Overko told Tulley. “I guess there were some things lost in communication.”

While Tulley never made it inside, Fox News reporter Liz Elkind was allowed into the room with Teixeira, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and several local Republican politicians.

Elkind reported that Johnson “deployed a pinch-hitter to help gin up enthusiasm on Friday: All-Star professional baseball player Mark Teixeira, who posed for photos with excited attendees.”

Teixeira, who earned two All-Star selections and won the 2009 World Series during his eight seasons with the Yankees, is a strong favorite to win the November House election in Texas’ deep-red 21st Congressional District.

Unlike the former slugger, Kean is facing one of the nation’s most competitive congressional races this fall as he seeks re-election against Democratic challenger Rebecca Bennett in New Jersey’s 7th District.

The race has been overshadowed by Kean’s four-month absence from Congress, which he finally addressed June 30 in a five-minute House floor speech. The congressman revealed he had been hospitalized for depression, telling colleagues that “there is no timeline for healing” for the illness affecting more than 48 million Americans.

Bennett has seized on Kean’s absence to criticize his record of service, saying he “was failing our community long before this absence,” though she’s also said she wishes him good health. She’s challenged Kean to debate in all six counties in the district and accused him of not doing enough on policy issues like stock-trading reform.

In response, Kean voted for a House bill banning members of Congress from buying individual stocks, saying “members of Congress should serve the public, not profit from public office.” Bennett dismissed the move as incomplete.

Kean also introduced legislation to ensure health plans cover mental health treatment, saying he now understands the issue “in a far more personal way.”

During his fundraiser at Hawk Pointe Golf Club, Kean launched a new attack, painting Bennett as overly partisan and unfit to represent the district.

According to Fox’s Elkind, Kean said Bennett has “actually stopped going to church because there are Republicans [there].”

“So when you think about that contrast — a person can’t even go to religious services with people of the other party — she’ll never work across the aisle,” Kean added, according to Elkind. “She’ll be always in the far-left corner of whoever is in her caucus and whoever is in her leadership. And that’s not what this district needs.”

Bennett spokesperson Carly Jones rejected Kean’s claims, telling Fox News that “Rebecca is an active member of her local church” and “she is proudly building a coalition of Democrats, Independents and Republicans to flip this seat in November.”

NJ.com staff writers Brent Johnson, Brianna Kudisch and AJ McDougall contributed to this report.

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