By Mike Catalini
Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., speaks to delegates in Paramus, N.J., March 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Rep. Andy Kim looks set to become the first Korean American U.S. senator in the nation’s history after New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy pulled the plug on her Democratic primary campaign for the seat held by scandal-tarred Sen. Bob Menendez.
Many progressives cheered when Tammy Murphy withdrew since they viewed her as someone who was benefiting from a system they argue gives party leaders undue influence. Murphy is the well-connected wife of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
Murphy’s departure followed closely on the heels of a hearing in a New Jersey courtroom on Rep. Andy Kim’s lawsuit to topple that system. Hours before the hearing, the state’s attorney general said New Jersey’s long standing way of putting names on the ballot—known informally as the “county line”—was unconstitutional.
Murphy’s departure from the race left Kim in a strong position to win his party’s nomination for the seat, a must-have for Democrats in the closely divided U.S. Senate but one some Democrats worried could be in play after Menendez was indicted on corruption charges last year. Republicans are still expected to contend for the seat, but Kim is more likely to avoid a nasty intra-party fight for the Democratic nomination.
“The tide in New Jersey has shifted,” said Antoinette Miles, director of New Jersey Working Families, who was also at the hearing and has argued for abolishing the balloting system. “I think the line is on its way out.”
Kim’s lawsuit aiming to put the state’s ballot design system—widely perceived as favoring candidates with the backing of party leaders—is before U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi. The judge is considering whether to temporarily halt the state’s primary ballot system, which in most counties lists party-backed candidates in a column and those without such an endorsement in what’s commonly called “ballot Siberia.”
When the judge will rule in the suit isn’t clear, and he’s given parties time to respond to the news that Murphy dropped out.
The dynamic had been expected to figure prominently in the June 4 primary to succeed three-term senator Menendez, in part because Murphy’s candidacy came along with the backing of big-county political party chairmen, giving her the perceived boost from having her name more prominently displayed. But Kim—until now better known as the soft-spoken congressman who was seen cleaning trash out of the Capitol after the Jan. 6 insurrection—tapped into a yearslong sense of frustration among progressives who chafe against party bosses deciding who nominees will be when he sued to stop the system.
Kim, who had won the advantage in a number of counties himself, said that even if he’s the front-runner in the Democratic primary now, he’s still pursuing his lawsuit because he thinks the practice is unfair.
“This is not a system I want to participate in,” he said in a Sunday call with reporters. “I think it’s unfair and that’s why I’m trying to change it.”
The county line helped sustain New Jersey’s incumbents, including Menendez, for years.
He pleaded not guilty to federal prosecutors’ charges that he took bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury vehicle in exchange for helping a businessman get a lucrative meat-certification deal with Egypt. A later indictment said he helped another associate get a deal with Qatar. His wife, also charged in the scheme, has pleaded not guilty, as have two of three business associates. The third has pleaded guilty and agreed to be a witness in the case.
Menendez last week said he won’t run as a Democrat in the primary but didn’t rule out seeking a fourth full term as an independent Democrat in November.