Another contest in the Democratic primary race for U.S. Senate took place Monday night. U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D-3rd) and first lady Tammy Murphy sought the imprimatur of the Mercer County Convention and the coveted county line there.
Kim’s congressional district includes a large portion of Mercer County. And, while he was expected to win the convention, Murphy only needed 40% of the vote to share the county line.
After 379 ballots were cast in a secret ballot, 62% of them went Kim’s way. Murphy finished in second place with 29.
“Any time we show that we’re able to operate in a non-machine county, going to let people be able to vote, we’re able to win very significantly,” said Kim, who has now won the county line in seven counties. “I think that this bodes really well for what’s going to happen on June 4th.”
June 4 is the day of the primary, when Kim and Murphy are the main Democratic candidates vying to replace embattled Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) on the ballot. The next Democratic convention is set to take place Thursday in Middlesex County.
“There’s a lot of conventions, but I’ll be really happy when the conventions are over and we can just get on the ground and be able to talk to people because that’s where I shine,” Murphy said.
Murphy won the Democratic conventions in Bergen and Somerset counties, while earning the party’s endorsement in Passaic and Union counties. Democrats in Cape May also met Monday night but declined to endorse either candidate.
