Longtime New Jersey state representative Herb Conaway won the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday, setting him up to face off against a Republican challenger in November.
Conaway has served in the Garden State Congress since 1998. A late April poll found: Public Policy Opinion Surveys Conaway was deemed the overwhelming favorite to win the race.
He won a tightly contested five-way primary for the seat being vacated by Rep. Andy Kim (D-Jersey), the front-runner to unseat embattled Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Jersey).
Republicans see the embattled Mr. Menendez’s independent run as a chance to retake the Senate seat.
Five Democrats are running to replace Rep. Andy Kim. (Erin Scott/Bloomberg)
Kim launched a primary challenge against Menendez in September 2023 after the longtime senator rejected calls to resign in the wake of stiff criminal charges of bribery and corruption.
Kim had been the favorite to win the Democratic primary since Menendez announced he would run as an independent earlier this week.
New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District is in the southern part of the state, including parts of the Philadelphia suburbs.
Sen. Menendez charged with obstruction of justice in separate indictment
Kim is running to replace Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Jersey). (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
President Biden won majority-white urban districts in the 2020 White House election.
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Voters in the district in 2021 elected incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy, a progressive Democrat, by a narrow but negligible margin of about 2 percentage points.
But it could become a Republican hot potato in November: The seat was held by Republicans from 2011 to 2019, when Kim defeated incumbent former Rep. Tom MacArthur to win the seat.
Kim Jong Un himself has not voiced his support for the succession struggle.
