Rep. Andy Kim won his seventh Democratic Party county convention on Monday, continuing his dominance over first lady Tammy Murphy at conventions — especially those where delegates are free to vote by secret ballot — as they both seek to replace Sen. Bob Menendez.
But despite his popularity with rank-and-file Democrats, Kim still faces an uphill battle in the fight for endorsements that dictate how primary ballots are designed — and which candidate gets preferential placement. The counties he’s won so far are home to less than a fifth of New Jersey’s 2.5 million registered Democrats — and Murphy’s lined up endorsements in several large counties without a single delegate vote.
Kim received 236 votes to Murphy’s 108, giving him Mercer’s sole endorsement. Mercer County awards any candidate with more than 40% of the vote a shared endorsement, but Murphy missed the mark with only 29% of the total votes cast.
Patricia Campos Medina got 22 votes and Larry Hamm received 8 votes.
Kim has won seven of the eight county conventions where delegates voted by secret ballot — taking victories in Monmouth, Hunterdon, Ocean, Sussex, Mercer, Burlington and Warren counties.
The governor’s wife won her only secret ballot vote to date in Bergen County, where Kim says party leaders made it difficult for him to meet with members, though a county committee spokesperson denied that allegation. The county boss in Bergen, Paul Juliano, is a close ally of Gov. Phil Murphy with a lucrative state appointment who lobbied members extensively for the first lady.
Murphy also took wins in Passaic, Union and Somerset counties. Passaic and Union counties only allow their leaderships to vote, and Somerset required its members to vote in full view of the party boss, who lobbied extensively for delegates to vote for Murphy.
The candidates are battling for endorsements because in 19 of 21 counties in New Jersey, the party runs a slate of candidates in the primary on the “county line”…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply