New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim defeated his Democratic rival in the state’s Democratic primary on Tuesday night and will face off in November against embattled Sen. Bob Menendez, who is seeking reelection as an independent.
Rep. Kim defeated opponents Lawrence Hamm and Patricia Campos Medina, giving her a chance to oust Menendez, who has been an elected representative since 2006 and is currently serving his third term.
Menendez is embroiled in a bribery scandal that also involves his wife, Nadine. Various criminal charges conspiracy, obstruction of justice, bribery, acting as a foreign agent, extortion and honest services fraud.
Menendez and his wife have pleaded not guilty to bribery and obstruction of justice charges. They are accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars and Mercedes-Benzes for various businessmen and the Egyptian government.
Andy Kim approaches New Jersey first lady at Democratic Senate conference to replace Bob Menendez
Rep. Andy Kim (D.N.J.) speaks to a press conference following a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus, Wednesday, July 13, 2022, at the Capitol Visitors Center. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
In February, Kim showed great momentum by defeating New Jersey’s first Democratic Party candidate, Tammy Murphy, by a large margin, ultimately leading Murphy to drop out of the race.
“Our energy is real and should not be underestimated,” Kim said after securing Monmouth’s county line in February.
Senator John Fetterman (Democrat, Pennsylvania) is known to have supported Kim in her bid to win the New Jersey primary for the Senate seat.
Andy Kim wins third straight primary against New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy for Bob Menendez’s seat
Sen. Bob Menendez, D.N.J., leaves the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Fetterman was an early advocate of expelling Menendez from Congress after federal prosecutors indicted him, his wife and a business associate on charges of accepting bribes of cash and gold bars in exchange for aid to the Egyptian government. The same is true for Qatar.
Menendez and the other defendants have pleaded not guilty, and Sen. He vowed to fight the charges. Unlike his first prosecution in 2017, which ultimately ended in a mistrial, Menendez has lost support among Democrats in his home state, where he once held virtually unchallenged influence.
As part of his Senate run, Kim filed a lawsuit alleging that the design of New Jersey’s primary ballot unfairly favors candidates backed by party leaders and should be abolished.
New Jersey Senate candidate accuses ‘Democratic elites’ of rigging primary election
Democratic Congressman Andy Kim of New Jersey speaks at the American Federation of Government Employees’ rally for workers’ rights on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 29, 2022, in Washington, DC, United States. (Eric Li/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In March, U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi granted Kim a preliminary injunction ordering him to use office block voting in the June primary election.
“The integrity of the primary election’s democratic process is at stake and the remedies sought by plaintiffs are extraordinary,” Judge Quraishi wrote in his ruling, adding that the plaintiffs “have met their burden, in a rare instance where mandatory relief is justified.”
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Kim said the court victory “came from the incredible grassroots work of activists across the state who saw an undemocratic system that ignored the voice of their constituents and worked tirelessly to fix it.”
“Fixing this unfair voting system is a major step toward perfecting our democracy, but we still have work to do. We need to regain the trust of the voters we serve, both in New Jersey and across the nation,” he said in a statement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
