Andy Kim ushers in a 'new era' as he becomes 1st Asian American N.J. senator

NBC News projects Democratic Rep. Andy Kim wins New Jersey’s U.S. Senate race, defeating Republican Curtis Bashaw after a historic campaign to fill the seat of former Sen. Bob Menendez.

The win makes Kim the state’s first Asian American senator. In his first interview after his victory was projected, Kim said he was still taking it all in.

“I’m here with my mom and my dad. I’m here with my wife, with my two sons — three generations in the same room,” said Kim, 42. “It’s a lot to process, but I’m really proud.” 

Kim won in a race for a seat that was vacated by Bob Menendez, a longtime Democratic senator who resigned in August after he was convicted in July on charges of taking bribes in exchange for official government acts. Kim said he hopes constituents see him as “somebody who’s trying to usher in a new era of politics.” 

“We live in a time of such great distrust in government, and I really do think that that poses a deep, deep concern and threat to our society,” Kim said. “That’s a big reason why I stepped up to run for Senate, jumped in the day after the indictment of the senator, because I felt like we needed to change course.” 

Kim added that there’s a “hunger for a new, younger generation of leadership to step up.” 

Many New Jersey voters saw Kim’s campaign as an opportunity for a fresh start after Menendez’s almost two decades in office. It’s also a reflection of the state’s changing demographics, with Asian Americans making up the fastest-growing racial group.

The number of Asian Americans in New Jersey nearly doubled from 2000 to 2022. In many areas, the electorate has proven to be a critical voting bloc. In the state’s second-most-populous county, Middlesex, for example, eligible Asian American voters make up almost 38% of the electorate. In Bergen County, the most populous, they make up almost a quarter.

Kim, the son of Korean immigrants, grew up in South Jersey. He is now set to be the first Korean American U.S. senator and has said his win would be a chance to listen to Asian American voters, who have often felt excluded from American politics. However, not everyone has been receptive to an Asian American like him representing the state. 

“Last year, when I first started running for Senate, I had somebody literally tell me to my face that I’m the ‘wrong kind of minority to win statewide,’” Kim said. “That was really hurtful.” 

Kim, who currently represents New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District, hopes to change those perceptions. 

“I have every bit as much right to represent the state as anybody else,” he said. “I am as American as anybody else.”

Kim’s campaign itself has already had a significant impact on the state’s politics. In his first big win, Kim filed a lawsuit in February challenging New Jersey’s unique ballot design known as the “county line.” In that design, candidates who are endorsed by a county party are grouped together in a column.

Meanwhile, other candidates competing for the same offices appear off to the side. Kim, who pushed for grouping candidates by office, argued that the county-line ballots unfairly benefited those backed by party leaders. In May, a U.S. district judge sided with Kim, barring use of the old design.

As he looks to start his first term as a senator, Kim said he hopes Asian Americans will take the leap into public service.  

“Don’t self-select yourself out,” he said. “If you want to run for office, if you want to serve, give it a try. I hope that people hear that.”