Representative Andy Kim, a third-term Democratic congressman, won an early but significant victory on Saturday against New Jersey’s first lady, Tammy Murphy, as they compete in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate primaries.
Mr. Kim, 41, was selected as the Democratic Party’s nominee in Monmouth County during the first convention of its kind this election cycle — a high-stakes affair that drew a standing-room-only crowd of delegates to the Portuguese Club of Long Branch, a 32,000-person seaside community.
It was a win laden with symbolism. Ms. Murphy, 58, lives in Monmouth County, and Mr. Kim represents a large swath of the affluent, predominantly coastal region.
In September, the dean of the state’s Democrats, Senator Robert Menendez, was charged with taking bribes for the second time in 10 years, creating a rare opportunity for challengers to vie for the coveted seat. Mr. Menendez has not ruled out running for re-election, but he did not compete for the Monmouth County nomination. Two other candidates, Patricia Campos-Medina, a union leader, and Larry Hamm, a Newark-based social justice activist, won nominal support Saturday. (Mr. Hamm withdrew from contention Saturday, a county leader told delegates, but his name remained on the ballot.)
The federal prosecution of Mr. Menendez has provided a sordid backdrop to the race, contributing to its early intensity and adding fuel to Mr. Kim’s pledge to interrupt the state’s entrenched political patronage system and restore dignity to the party.
“The challenges we face are deep to the bone of our country,” Mr. Kim said in a speech to delegates, adding, “Ask yourself: We have wars abroad and turmoil here. Who is ready to lead our country?”
Ms. Murphy, a first-time candidate who was a registered Republican until 2014, has played a key policy role in the six years that her husband, Philip D. Murphy, has been governor.
With backing from the governor — who has nearly two years left in his term — Ms. Murphy won out-of-the-gate support from many of the state’s most powerful Democrats. She has also been endorsed by dozens of Black clergy leaders and a handful of labor unions, yet polls have suggested that she is struggling to gain traction with rank-and-file voters.
She and her team have emphasized the potentially historic nature of a victory by Ms. Murphy, who, if elected, would be the first woman to represent New Jersey in the Senate.
“We need ticked-off moms who have Jersey grit to go to Washington, D.C., and get stuff done,” Ms. Murphy said.
But Saturday’s 265-181 loss to Mr. Kim on her home turf is likely to lead to questions about her ability to sway voters farther afield.
The event itself laid bare the exceptional nature of the contest.
The governor, a voting member of the Monmouth County Democratic organization, participated in the convention, as did the Murphys’ oldest son, Josh, who is a committee member. Before the candidates addressed the delegates, the governor shook hands as he navigated through the crowd, but kept largely to himself toward the back of the room.
Mr. Kim appeared to be a familiar face to many in the room as well. His South Jersey district takes in about 30 percent of Monmouth County, and he often boasts about the number of town hall meetings he has held — 71 — since taking office in 2019.
But he is far less well-known in the state’s northern, vote-rich urban communities closest to New York City, where Ms. Murphy has been campaigning heavily ahead of the June primary.
A poll released last week showed Mr. Kim leading Ms. Murphy statewide, 32 percent to 20 percent, yet trailing her among Black and Latino Democratic voters. Monmouth County, which includes the oceanfront communities of Asbury Park and Belmar and, farther inland, Freehold, the birthplace of the rock icon Bruce Springsteen, is about 75 percent white.
Democratic bosses in many of New Jersey’s largest counties have almost total control over who is…
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