Born in Boston and raised in South Jersey, Kim studied political science at the University of Chicago before attending Magdalen College, Oxford. Shortly afterwards, he worked as a civilian advisor at the Department of State, serving in Afghanistan under the Obama Administration. Inspired to run against Representative Tom MacArthur due to his efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kim defeated him in a close election in 2018. The first Democratic Congressman of Korean descent, he served three terms in the House.
In September 2023, Kim announced he would run against incumbent New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, who was facing corruption and bribery charges. In the subsequent primary campaign, Menendez declined to run, and Kim initially faced New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy before she dropped out in March 2024. After successfully petitioning to abolish the "county line" primary ballots, Kim became the Democratic nominee in the 2024 United States Senate election in New Jersey on 4 June 2024.[1] Menendez attempted to run as an independent before dropping out in August. Kim will face Republican Curtis Bashaw in the general election.
During the campaign, MacArthur sought to portray Kim as a D.C. elitist and outsider. In an ad run by the New Jersey Republican Party, Kim was described as "Real Fishy" in Wonton font on a picture of dead fish. The ad was criticized for its racial undertones.[10]
The race was considered too close to call on election night, but the next night, an influx of absentee ballots in Burlington County, home to the majority of the district's voters, gave Kim a 2,500-vote lead, prompting him to declare victory.[18] MacArthur conceded eight days later.[19] With a margin of victory of fewer than 4,000 votes, or slightly over 1% of votes cast, this was New Jersey's closest congressional race.[3][20][21] Kim became the first Asian American U.S. representative from New Jersey.[22]
Kim ran for reelection in 2020. In the general election, he faced Republican nominee David Richter, a businessman. Richter originally planned to run against then-Democrat Jeff Van Drew in the second district, but after Van Drew switched parties, Richter decided to run against Kim in the third district.[23] Although the race was projected to be close, Kim won by 53% to 45%,[24] even though the district again voted for Donald Trump.[22]
After redistricting, Kim's district became considerably more Democratic: Joe Biden would have won the reconfigured district by 14.1 percentage points in 2020, and Phil Murphy would have won it by 1.6 percentage points in 2021.[25] Kim won by a margin of 11.8 percentage points (55.4 to 43.6), defeating the Republican candidate, yacht manufacturer Robert Healey, Jr.[26]
In February 2019, Kim introduced his first bill, the Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act (SAVE Act).[29] In May, the SAVE Act passed the House, 234–183. The bill, designed to lower prescription drug costs, included a provision to prohibit brands from stopping generic versions of drugs from being sold on the market and was not expected to pass the Senate.[30]
In June 2019, Kim co-sponsored an amendment to stop a pay raise for members of Congress.[31]
Kim voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis. This results in a Biden Plus/Minus score of +45 indicating significantly higher support for Biden's priorities than would be expected given the makeup of his district.[33] He supported The Inflation Reduction Act, The American Rescue Plan, and the CHIPS and Science Act.[34]
During his tenure, Kim made an effort to host at least one Congressional town hall a month.[35]
In 2021 and 2022, Kim was included on Gold House's annual "A100" list, which honors those of Asian Pacific descent, "who made the greatest impact on culture and society over the past year".[36][37]
On September23, 2023, Kim announced that he would mount a primary challenge to incumbent Democratic senator Bob Menendez in the 2024 Senate election, the day after Menendez was indicted on federal corruption charges.[3][46][47] Kim was the first major Democrat to challenge Menendez, and did not first notify any state or county Democratic party officials.[3] He said he felt disappointed by the corruption charges, and that he sought to restore integrity in politics.[48] Kim was soon challenged by New Jersey First Lady and former Goldman Sachs analyst Tammy Murphy, the wife of incumbent Governor Phil Murphy.[49] Her candidacy was accused of being nepotistic, with some papers describing Kim as an "underdog" and "insurgent" taking on the "New Jersey political machine".[50][51][52][53][54][55][56] He released his first campaign ad on November14, 2023, which showed him interacting with voters in an unscripted conversation.
Early on in the race he picked up some endorsements, most notably from Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, various U.S. Representatives such as Brendan Boyle and Grace Meng (from Pennsylvania and New York respectively), along with various local party chapters, mayors and some unions.[57][58] Additionally, he was endorsed by former National Security Advisor Susan Rice and former New Jersey Congressman Tom Malinowski; both had worked with Kim during his time at the State Department.[59][60] When Kim was endorsed by the College Democrats of New Jersey, they were reportedly pressured to endorse Murphy instead. Kim criticized these efforts, stating "We seek fairness in our democracy and must not deviate when it advantages us."[61] He later accused "party elites" of trying to "put their thumb on the scale" in the election.[62] The National Organization for Women (NOW) endorsed Kim over Murphy in late February.[63]
After Murphy declined to participate in what would have been the first primary debate, Kim discussed his candidacy and platform alone with the New Jersey Globe on February4.[64] The two debated on February 18, in a live streamed event again hosted by the New Jersey Globe.[65][66] Polls conducted since October showed Kim maintaining a lead over Murphy with a plurality of support. On February10, Kim secured New Jersey's Monmouth County Democratic Party nomination, the first in the state, having won the county convention with 265 votes to 181 for Murphy.[67][68] The result was seen as an upset, as it was Murphy's home county, and various county officials had already endorsed her.[69] Kim later won the endorsement of his home county of Burlington on February24 with 90% of the vote.[70][71] Ultimately, Kim would win 17 of the 19 county line endorsements.[72]
On February26, Kim's legal team filed a federal lawsuit in the District Court of New Jersey, seeking the abolition of the "county line" ballot system, being joined by opponents Patricia Campos-Medina and Larry Hamm.[3] Kim referred to the system as "unconstitutional" and sought a general redesign of ballots.[73][74] After Murphy dropped out of the race, Kim said he would continue his efforts against the county line procedure.[75]Politico reported Kim would stand to benefit from the line due to a lack of serious opposition, but the lawsuit went forward.[76] Federal judge Zahid Quraishi struck down the county line on March29, and directed clerks to instead print ballots with candidates organized by office in randomized order for the 2024 primary election.[77] The Third Circuit Court of Appeals declined to block the ruling on April4, 2024, ahead of a deadline to finalize ballot designs for the primary on April 5.[78]
On March24, 2024, Murphy announced that she was suspending her campaign.[79] In his statement after Murphy announced she was dropping out, Kim asked supporters to show respect to his former rival, and reminded them that “we are all a part of something bigger than all of us.” After Murphy’s campaign suspension, Kim was considered the presumptive nominee, and many predicted an easy victory in the general election.[80] Various news outlets, including The Hill, considered Murphy dropping out a victory for Kim against "machine politics" in New Jersey.[81][82][83] The campaign development, along with the Menendez scandal, helped boost Kim's campaign further and spurred hope of greater reform.[84][85]
On June 4, Kim won the Democratic primary, defeating Patricia Campos-Medina and Larry Hamm with 75% of the vote.[86]
The same day as the primary, incumbent Senator Bob Menendez, who was still on trial for bribery, filed to run for re-election in the general election.[87] Although still a registered Democrat, Menendez was set to appear on the ballot as an independent.[88] Curtis Bashaw, a real estate developer and former director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, won the Republican primary on 7 June. Upon winning his primary, Kim criticized Menendez for running, and attacked Bashaw for his endorsement of Donald Trump in the presidential election.[89][90]
By July, Kim had raised more than $9 million for his campaign, with 94% of donations being $100 or less.[91] On 9 July, he voiced concerns over President Biden's age and his presidential campaign.[92] When Biden suspended his campaign on 21 July, Kim endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who eventually became the presumptive nominee.[93] He later addressed the Democratic National Convention in August.[94][95]
Menendez was found guilty on all counts in his corruption trial on 16 July 2024.[96] Kim once again urged Menendez to resign. Both he and Republican opponent Bashaw called the conviction a “sad day for New Jersey."[97] Kim said that he would accept an invitation to be appointed to the Senate by GovernorPhil Murphy, were Menendez to resign or be expelled.[98] On 23 July, Menendez announced he would resign from office on 20 August.[99] Menendez later requested his name be removed from the ballot on 16 August, ending his brief Senate campaign.[100] On the same day, Governor Murphy announced he would appoint George Helmy, his former chief of staff, to replace Menendez in the Senate.[101] Kim said he supported the appointment and that he would "look forward to working with him in the Capitol.”[102] Helmy stated he would step down from the Senate when either Kim or Bashaw is certified as the winner of the election on 27 November. Governor Murphy confirmed that he would then appoint the winner of the general election.[103] Helmy was sworn in on 9 September.[104] Later that month Garden State Equality, an LGBT rights group based in New Jersey, endorsed Kim over Bashaw, who is openly gay.[105]
When Roe v. Wade (1973) was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022, Kim said he was "outraged" by the decision, referring to it as an "injustice".[112] In 2024, he said he would vote to codify reproductive rights into federal law. Kim has described himself as "proudly pro-choice", and believes reproductive healthcare is an "essential human right".[113] In late December 2022, Kim voted in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act enshrining interracial and same-sex marriage protections into federal law.[114] He co-sponsored the Equality Act, which would guarantee civil rights protections, amend existing civil rights law to explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected statuses, and prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in public spaces.[115] Kim has also attended pride parades across New Jersey.[116][117]
Kim has to raise servicemember pay every year through the NDAA, and supports doubling funding for veteran suicide prevention and outreach programs.[133]
Kim supports banning members of Congress from trading stock, saying in December 2021 that he "disagree[d] strongly" with speaker Nancy Pelosi, who defended the practice.[134] He also supports ending the filibuster in the United States Senate.[3]
Kim married Kammy Lai, a tax attorney, in 2012.[135][136] They have two sons, one born in 2015 and the other born in 2017.[137][138] His family lives down the street from his childhood home in Moorestown, South Jersey.[139]
One of Kim's passions is making bagels, and has said that were he not a politician, he would have started his own bagel shop. He taught bagel making classes over Zoom in April 2021 in an effort to raise money for his 2022 re-election campaign.[141][142]
^"Andy Kim to Hold Campaign Kickoff Rally in Marlton". Insider NJ. March 2, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2020. Congressman Andy Kim (NJ-03) will officially launch his reelection campaign at a rally in Marlton on Saturday March 14th, at 2pm. The rally will be held at Rice Elementary, the public school the congressman attended in the Kings Grant neighborhood where he grew up.