New Jersey Senate candidate Andy Kim accuses 'Democratic Party elites' of manipulating primary race
Rep. Andy Kim, a Democrat challenging Sen. Bob Menendez in the New Jersey Senate race, filed a lawsuit in the state over the ballot design, which he argues favors NJ first lady and fellow Senate candidate Tammy Murphy.
Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., who is challenging Bob Menendez for his U.S. Senate seat, said Thursday that he was filing a lawsuit in New Jersey over the state's ballot design, which he argued favored the state's first lady and fellow Senate candidate in the race, Tammy Murphy.
Kim joined CNN host Kasie Hunt on Thursday, who noted, "it’s a heated Democratic primary in which the party apparatus in New Jersey has a lot of control over how the ballot appears."
"You filed a lawsuit because you don‘t think what‘s happening to you is fair. Do you think in New Jersey Democrats are practicing what they preach about, making sure elections are free, fair, and democracy first?" Hunt asked Kim.
"I believe that the Democratic Party is a party of protecting our democracy and making sure we‘re preserving that. But right now, in my home state, Democratic Party elites are the ones that are putting their thumb on the scale of this Senate primary, trying to be able to put this in the favor of the first lady of New Jersey, the governor‘s wife, who obviously controls a lot of power and that family, whereas I believe that a democracy should be fair and open to anyone, that should be able to participate, not just the well-off and the well-connected," Kim said during his media appearance.
Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., joined CNN on Thursday to discuss a lawsuit he filed in New Jersey over the ballot design in the state. (Screenshot/CNN)
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Hunt showed a mock-up of what the ballot might look like in the state and said Murphy's name would likely appear directly under President Biden's name on the left side of the primary ballot, but Kim's name would appear in a column on the right side of the ballot.
Hunt asked about the ramifications of the ballot design and Kim argued it had a "huge impact."
"Our lawsuit has the newest data about how this impacts it upwards of double-digits advantage for someone who is in what‘s called the county line because it‘s something that just draws in the voters and oftentimes people, even miss that there are other columns further off. So this is something that is a real concern and it’s trying to basically manipulate and take advantage of voters. And I think that that‘s wrong. We should be able to give everyone a fair chance. We‘re the only state in America that does this. 49 other states do what’s called office block ballots, which is the norm. And it‘s a norm because it‘s fair," he said.
Kim is seeking to end New Jersey's unique "county line" ballot design, which allows party leaders in the state to group the candidates they favor for every race together in a column or row, the New York Times reported.
Tammy Murphy, First Lady of New Jersey and Club Chair of NJ/NY Gotham FC, addresses fans during the homecoming celebration for the 2023 NWSL Champions event at Red Bull Arena on November 20, 2023 in Harrison, New Jersey. (Ira L. Black - Corbis/Getty Images)
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Hunt explained office block ballots meant all the candidates for Senate would be in one place and all the candidates for president would be in one place, for example.
Kim picked up a third consecutive win over Murphy in New Jersey's primary contest at the Hunterdon County Convention.
Kim's victory at the convention on Sunday means his name will appear in the same column on the ballot as other candidates endorsed by the Democratic Party.
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 25: Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) arrives to the Senate Chambers of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Senators continue to negotiate a deal to pass a bipartisan Ukraine funding bill paired with immigration and border security reform package. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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Incumbent Democratic Sen. Menendez is facing federal charges for allegedly acting as a foreign agent and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes to benefit the Egyptian government through his power and influence as a senator.
Menendez is also accused of accepting bribes and gifts in exchange for helping to benefit Qatar as part of a years-long corruption scheme from 2021 through 2023, one year longer than originally thought, the Justice Department said.
Fox News' Louis Casiano contributed to this report.