TRENTON, New Jersey – TRENTON, New Jersey (AP) –
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim won his party’s nomination for a U.S. Senate seat Tuesday in New Jersey, setting up a general election contest against wealthy hotel operator Curtis Bashaw, who defeated a Trump-backed candidate for the Republican nomination. .
Incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Menendez will also be on the ballot after declaring his intention to run as independent on monday in the middle of a federal corruption trial. The turmoil surrounding the senator has created the possibility of a headache for Democrats in a state where they have not lost a Senate election since 1972.
Kim, a three-term congressman who launched its campaign After the charges against Menéndez were announced last year, he rose to the top of the state’s dominant political party over a relatively short period. A former national security official in the Obama administration, he defeated an incumbent Republican in the 2018 House race and won a court ruling this year, which upended a unique system in New Jersey widely seen as giving political bosses influence over who wins primaries.
“Leadership is not about the volume of your voice. It’s about the actions they take,” Kim said in a phone interview. “People are eager for the rise of a new generation of leadership. They are hungry for change in our broken politics.”
Bashaw, a wealthy hotel developer, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money on the campaign to defeat Mendham County Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner, who had the support of former President Donald Trump.
Democrats’ tenuous control of the Senate means they can hardly afford a competitive race in a state widely considered safe for the party. It is unclear how Menéndez’s trial will end and how his candidacy could affect the race. Republicans are eager to exploit his candidacy as a barrier to splitting the Democratic vote.
“New Jersey families deserve better than this one-party Democratic monopoly that has represented them for too long in Washington,” Bashaw said.
Kim’s victory came after a bruising start to the primary, when a battle between him and New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy began to take shape. Murphy, a first-time candidate and wife of Gov. Phil Murphy, dropped out of the race, saying she did not want to get involved in a negative campaign against a fellow Democrat. On Tuesday, Kim defeated labor leader Patricia Campos-Medina and longtime grassroots organizer Lawrence Hamm, who remained on the ballot.
Menéndez, a three-term incumbent senator, declined this year to seek re-election as a Democrat, but filed Monday in Trenton to function independently. He said he hopes to be cleared of the charges this summer.
Kim attacked Menendez and tried to link him to Trump.
“New Jersey has a choice: the chaos and corruption of Bob Menendez and Donald Trump, or a policy that works for families struggling to make ends meet,” he said Tuesday.
Kim, 41, gained attention for helping clean up the Capitol after the insurrection on January 6, 2021. A native of southern New Jersey, he 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.
Tammy Murphy joined the contest late last year and quickly gained the support of influential county party leaders, a sign that she would gain their support and, with it, the so-called county line — or favorable placement in the primary election. .
But Kim and other candidates sued to end the decades-old practice, which is widely seen as giving New Jersey party bosses influence over primaries, and a federal judge agreed to block it.
In the Republican Senate race, Bashaw defeated Mendham County Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner.
Bashaw has focused his campaign, in part, on ending the “one-party monopoly” in New Jersey, where the state government is led entirely by Democrats, and sending a conservative to Washington. It’s unclear whether that message will resonate with general election voters, who haven’t elected a Republican to the Senate in more than five decades. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by about 1 million in New Jersey.
GOP leaders were optimistic they had their best hope in years of winning a Senate seat after Menendez was indicted for a second time on federal corruption charges. But that eased a bit when he said he wouldn’t run as a Democrat.
From him independent race gives the Republican Party new hope that Democratic voters might be divided enough to take advantage of them.
“Republicans have the best opportunity to win this seat in 52 years,” said Republican state Sen. Mike Testa, a Bashaw supporter.
Serrano Glassner, whose husband, Michael Glassner, was one of Trump’s early political advisers, was an early entrant in the race and was recently endorsed by the former president at a rally in Wildwood.
Bashaw says he supports Trump, but has been less outspoken in his support than Serrano Glassner.
Menendez spoke briefly Monday outside the New York courthouse where his trial is being held, saying he has not changed politically despite running under his own banner rather than seeking the Democratic nomination.
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 before prosecutors.
President Joe Biden and Trump, already their parties’ presumptive nominees, won in New Jersey on Tuesday.
New Jersey voters also chose House candidates, with some of the most closely watched races having some connection to Menéndez.
In the 8th District, U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez, his son, won the Democratic primary over Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla.
Rob Menendez said Bhalla’s heavy focus on his father showed he was afraid to confront the congressman directly.
Menendez, an attorney and former commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, first won election in northern New Jersey’s 8th District in 2022, succeeding Albio Sires.
He has been a lone voice of support for his father amid his legal troubles.
The 8th District includes parts of Elizabeth, Jersey City and Newark.
And in the 3rd District, Rep. Herb Conaway won the Democratic primary over colleague Carol Murphy, advancing to face Republican Rajesh Mohan, who also won on Tuesday.
The dispute is over the vacancy left by Kim as he runs for the Senate.
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This story has been updated to correct the outcome of the 3rd District race.
