This weekend, Congressman Andy Kim secured commanding victories in two more New Jersey county Democratic conventions, winning 90 percent of the vote in Burlington County and 62 percent in Hunterdon County. In a clean sweep, Congressman Kim has now won the first three conventions.
“Congressman Kim’s back-to-back victories this weekend proves what we already know—his people-powered campaign is gaining momentum and there are no signs of stopping,” said End Citizens United // Let America Vote Communications Director Jonas Edwards-Jenks. “New Jerseyans know they can trust him to fight for the issues that matter most to them. It’s clear the people are all in on Congressman Kim.”
See what New Jerseyans are reading:
Politico: Andy Kim hands a third straight loss to NJ first lady Tammy Murphy in Senate primary
Daniel Han and Katherine Dailey
02/25/24
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Rep. Andy Kim won his third straight county convention on Sunday, beating his top rival, first lady Tammy Murphy, in his bid for the Democratic nomination for the Senate.
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But Kim’s victory came after the Hunterdon County convention was briefly thrown into disarray when the county chair — a Murphy ally — proposed changing the endorsement rules. It would have allowed candidates with 30 percent of the vote to share the so-called county line, the valuable primary ballot positioning that party-endorsed candidates receive.
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Kim won the Hunterdon contest 120 votes to Murphy’s 64, or 62 percent to 33 percent.
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And unlike the state’s first two Democratic conventions in Burlington and Monmouth, both of which Kim won handily, Hunterdon has a unique qualifier: It is the first county that neither Kim nor Murphy have any natural political roots. In that way, Hunterdon may offer a preview at how Democratic voters who don’t have a clear connection to Kim or Murphy may react to their candidacies.
New Jersey Globe: Ten takeaways from Andy Kim’s big weekend
David Wildstein
02/25/24
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Numbers don’t lie, and #Kimentum is real. The three-term congressman and former Obama White House staffer’s early juggernaut continues with this third consecutive blowout convention victory over First Lady Tammy Murphy. And his ability to snag an endorsement from NOW, the nation’s largest grassroots women’s advocacy group, is a big deal.
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Kim had an extraordinarily good weekend, winning Democratic conventions in his home county of Burlington with 90% and Hunterdon with 62%; that followed a 57%-39% win in Monmouth last week. Hunterdon, small and less significant in a statewide primary, is very much a retail politics contest on the Democratic side; both candidates were calling county committee members directly. Like last week, both sides thought the Hunterdon vote would be closer.
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Murphy has still not broken 40% in a convention county. That number is significant because Mercer County rules allow any candidate with 40% of the vote to run on their line. Some view a last-minute arbitrary proposal in Hunterdon to enable candidates who receive 30% to be on the line as a signal that Team Tammy had a decent read on their count (33%).
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Hunterdon was Kim’s first test in a county with no pre-existing relationships; Burlington was his home county, and he represents western Monmouth in Congress.
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Kim’s ability to win conventions will translate into money as he makes the case to donors that they can be on the winning side.
Gothamist: Andy Kim collects third convention win in NJ Senate primary against Tammy Murphy
Nancy Solomon
02/25/24
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Kim won the Burlington County Democratic Committee convention Saturday with 90% of the vote in his home county. On Sunday, he won the Hunterdon County Democratic Committee’s endorsement with 62% of the vote. Along with a win earlier this month in Monmouth County, this means Kim has won the first three party conventions that hold an actual vote of its full membership.
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At the Hunterdon County convention, chairwoman Arlene Quiñones Perez came to the podium after the rank-and-file members had turned in their paper ballots, and announced the executive committee had decided that anyone who received 30% of the vote or more would share the line of the ballot.
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An uproar ensued, with many members crying foul. In the chaos, one member called for a vote to appeal the executive committee’s decision, which ultimately won.
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“This is what I’ve been speaking out against – the party elites just trying to make decisions here that can put its thumb on the scale of this election,” Kim said after the convention. “Seeing it up close and personal in real time was something else, honestly, but I have to say I’m really heartened by the fact that the rank-and-file Democrats didn’t go along with this.”
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