New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy got her first big county Democratic convention win over Rep. Andy Kim Monday night, with 64% of the votes in Bergen County — giving her the county party’s endorsement and preferred placement on its primary ballot.
Bergen has the second-largest number of registered Democrats of any county in the state and the night was a must-win for Murphy, who was defeated by Kim at conventions in Monmouth, Burlington, Hunterdon, Warren and Sussex Counties. The local party nod gives candidates what’s known as the “county line” — favorable ballot position that can make or break a candidate in party primaries. Since kicking off their campaigns to replace indicted U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, Kim has been outperforming Murphy in polls and convention votes.
Kim, a congressman serving towns in Burlington, Mercer and Monmouth Counties, said he was happy with the 419 votes he received Monday — despite, he contends, having little chance to meet with Bergen committee members.
“The chairman immediately came in and endorsed the first lady within, what, 48 hours of her announcing the race and he never returned my phone calls until about maybe four days ago,” Kim said. “We know he has hosted multiple events for [Tammy Murphy], so no it was never a fair fight. But you know, look, I wanted to come here and say, ‘Look, I’m not scared of the machine.’ And over 400 people also said that they’re not scared of the machine.”
A spokesperson for the county party has denied Kim was blocked from meeting with delegates.
Murphy said she won the convention because she worked hard to hold town halls, meet with voters and present herself on Zoom calls.
“I think we’re all in the same process across the state. We’re all competing with the same rules,” Murphy said.
The powerful party boss in Bergen County, Paul Juliano, is a close ally of Gov. Phil Murphy and was appointed last year to a lucrative state job as the head of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition…
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