Democratic U.S. Rep.
Andy Kim was elected Tuesday to the U.S. Senate, defeating Republican businessman Curtis Bashaw for the seat that opened when Bob Menendez resigned this year after his federal conviction on bribery charges.
Kim, a three-term congressman from the 3rd District, in central New Jersey, becomes the first Korean-American in the Senate. In a recent interview, he said that accomplishment would validate his parents' decision 50 years ago to immigrate to the United States. He was the state's first Asian-American to be elected to Congress when he defeated a Republican incumbent in 2018.
A former Obama administration national security aide, Kim was a Rhodes Scholar and has a Ph.D. from Oxford.
He's presented himself as an unassuming, hard-working official and gained national attention in 2021 when he was spotted cleaning up the U.S. Capitol after the Jan.
6 insurrection, bagging trash. His victory keeps a reliably Democratic seat under his party's control. He is also expected to take up the seat sooner than January because of Menendez's resignation.
Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has said that George Helmy, who is serving the remainder of Menendez's term, will step down and the winner of Tuesday's election would be appointed. Kim, 42, was first elected to Congress by defeating Republican Tom MacArthur, an ally of former president Donald Trump ally.
He's now been re-elected three times. During the campaign, Kim said he would oppose tax breaks for the wealthy and support .
