Andy Kim projected to win New Jersey Democratic Senate primary for Bob Menendez’s seat

CRANFORD, New Jersey – CBS News projects that Representative Andy Kim won the New Jersey Democratic Senate primary for the seat held by Federally Indicted Senator Bob Menendez.

With 32% of the votes counted, Kim led the next closest challenger, union organizer Patricia Campos Medina, by a margin of 78% to 14%, with activist Larry Hamm in third with 7%.

Despite his ongoing bribery trial, Menéndez told CBS New York’s Christine Sloan on Monday that he turned in more than 2,000 signatures to get his name placed on the November ballot. run as an independent.

At the beginning of the race, Kim was also competing against a fourth candidate, Tammy Murphy, wife of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. In the spring, Kim asked a federal court judge to change the county’s voting system which he argued gave Murphy an unfair advantage. However, she dropped out of the race at the end of March.

“Right now, the incumbent senator that we are trying to replace is on the court and I think that is something that is creating such a sense of frustration among voters in New Jersey and across the country,” Kim said recently.

On the Republican side, businessman Curtis Bashaw was leading his race against Mendham Township Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner and former Tabernacle Deputy Mayor Justin Murphy.

“Inflation is too high,” Bashaw said recently. “We need better jobs in our state. People want a secure border. They want to support law enforcement.”

Glassner was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. His campaign did not respond to CBS New York’s requests for comment.

Although New Jersey has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972, the stakes are high, with Democrats holding a slim majority in the body. The Republican Party sees Menéndez’s independent run as a potential hurdle that could boost his chances in the fall.

Kim, a mild-mannered three-term congressman who gained recognition for helping clean up the Capitol after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, launched his candidacy the day after Menendez’s indictment, saying it was time for the state to move on. .

Murphy joined the race late last year and quickly gained the support of influential county party leaders, a sign that she would win their support and, with it, the so-called county line — or favorable positioning — in the primary election.

But Kim and other candidates sued to end the decades-old practice, which is widely seen as a way to give New Jersey party bosses influence over the primaries, and a federal judge agreed to block it.

Kim, 41, is a native of southern New Jersey and returned to his home state in 2018 to run for Congress, defeating Republican Tom MacArthur in the 3rd District. A Rhodes Scholar, Kim served in the Obama administration as national security advisor, working in the State and Defense departments as well as the National Security Council.

Menéndez, his wife and two business associates have pleaded not guilty to federal charges that the senator traded the promise of official acts for gold bars, cash, a luxury vehicle and a mortgage payment. A third business partner pleaded guilty and agreed to testify in the case for prosecutors.

Polls closed in New Jersey at 8 p.m. The latest election results can be found on the CBS New York results page.