World
How a congressman’s challenge to New Jersey’s first lady is shaking up a key Senate race
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) — When New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy walked up to Rep. Andy Kim last weekend to congratulate him with a handshake after his third consecutive win in his bid for a U.S. Senate seat, the goodwill gesture represented a surprise within a surprise.
The Senate seat only became competitive because incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez had been unexpectedly indicted last year on federal corruption charges. And Kim’s wins in three state county committee votes so far have fueled sudden momentum for the mild-mannered three-term congressman, who is mounting a more formidable challenge than is typical against a well-connected political figure in a state where connections count for a lot.
That matters in the Democratic stronghold of New Jersey, where Democratic primaries often decide elections — and where primary winners are sometimes chosen by party leaders in behind-the-scenes gatherings well ahead of the primaries themselves. Kim sued this week in federal court to challenge the way counties draw ballots to favor candidates with party support.
As surprising as they were, Kim’s wins in three counties so far, including his and the first lady’s home turf, hardly settle anything. Murphy, who comes from the world of high finance and has spent years cultivating allies among state party leaders, has already secured the support of party bosses in the more populous counties of Bergen, Camden and Essex.
Menendez, meanwhile, has yet to declare whether he will seek another term, though the charges against him have generated spectacular headlines. They are seen by many to be career-ending, though he has pleaded not guilty and projected a defiant stance as turmoil suddenly engulfed a seat that had long been seen as safe for Democrats.
Tough race for Democratic nomination
Still, the wins by Kim suggest that the race for the Democratic nomination won’t be easy for anyone. It pits Kim, perhaps best known for being spotted cleaning debris from the U.S. Capitol after the Jan. 6 insurrection three years ago, against Murphy, who is married to Gov. Phil Murphy and has made maternal mortality her signature issue in her role as first lady.
Kim’s lawsuit signals that he still believes New Jersey’s way of giving better ballot positioning to candidates favored by local insiders could give Murphy an unfair advantage, a view shared by many political observers.
“We do not have competitive primaries. We in theory have them, but in practice we have party leaders who get behind closed doors and the nominee is presented to the public as a fait accompli. This is your candidate, love it or lump it,” said Daniel Cassino, executive director of the Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll. “The fact that we’re actually having this primary is a sign something has gone awry.”
The competition between Kim and Murphy began almost as soon as the Menendez indictment was announced. It gave New Jersey a rare competitive Democratic primary for one of only three statewide seats — the others, for a second Senate seat and governor, aren’t on the ballot this year.
The seat may yet remain in Democratic hands, but a contentious campaign could consume energy and resources as the party gears up for a grinding presidential campaign and the larger fight to control Congress.
Kim cast his candidacy in terms of the public’s distrust of officials and party insiders, pointing specifically to Menendez’s indictments. A 2015 federal corruption indictment against Menendez ended in a hung jury and with prosecutors dropping the case. The concern, Kim said in an interview, is that progressive Democrats who oppose the party bosses’ influence and independents might sit out the November election if they think Murphy’s candidacy was foisted on them.
“If the Democrats don’t fix this and show that this is a credible and legitimate process, I think that this Senate seat could be in jeopardy this November. And I think that that’s something I absolutely refuse to see happen because I’ve been there in Congress. I know exactly what the Republicans would do if they have the majority in the Senate,” Kim said.
Tammy Murphy, who worked at Goldman Sachs briefly and helped start a policy think tank in New Jersey, pushed back at the notion that the support she has is based on her marriage to Phil. She said Saturday she isn’t asking for his help. She also defended her departure from the Republican Party, which she left shortly before her husband’s run for governor in 2017.
“I’ve been on the ground for the last eight years, literally building the party,” she said. “I’ve shown up serially in all these, all the red counties where they needed help. I showed up.”
She added: “Many people are leaving the Republican Party here now, and I will tell you, I have stood for the same values since day one. Absolutely the same values.”
GOP hopes
The possibility of Republicans picking up the seat in November is overblown, Cassino said, in large part because the state tilts so overwhelmingly Democratic and because it’s an election year. Ben Dworkin, who heads the Rowan Institute for Public Policy & Citizenship, echoed that sentiment, pointing out Republicans haven’t been elected to the Senate in New Jersey since 1972.
Republicans are grappling with their own primary, featuring southern New Jersey businessman Curtis Bashaw, Mendham Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner and former TV news reporter Alex Zdan. Also running in the Democratic primary are labor leader Patricia Campos-Medina and civil rights activist Lawrence Hamm.
Shortly before the Burlington Democratic Party results were announced Saturday, voters leaving the hall greeted each other with smiles and hugs. Kim and Murphy both stopped to chat with people.
Murphy had talked earlier in the day about needing to send “ticked off” moms to Washington to fight for families. Kim had focused on being a county native and said he’d fight for the state particularly in light of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and the threat to the country’s democracy.
A number of voters acknowledged the awkwardness of having the first lady and their congressman competing and declined to say which one they supported. But they sounded more certain about their resolve to win in November.
“We’ll come together,” said Gina LaPlaca, a local official in Burlington County. “The threat from Republicans is too much.”
World
Kremlin Says Trump Verdict Shows His Rivals Are Using All Means to Get Rid of Him
World
US, allies demand end to North Korean weapon transfers for Russian use against Ukraine
- The U.S. and its main allies have voiced grave concern over increasing cooperation between North Korea and Russia.
- They urged an end to North Korean weapon transfers aimed at Ukraine.
- A U.N. report confirmed a North Korean ballistic missile strike on Kharkiv this week.
The United States and its main allies said on Friday they are “gravely concerned” by deepening cooperation between North Korea and Russia and called for an end to North Korean arms transfers for use against Ukraine.
The U.S. Secretary of State and foreign ministers from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Britain, as well as the EU High Representative, issued a joint statement highlighting their recent coordination of sanctions measures in response to such activity.
“Our governments stand in resolute opposition to these continued arms transfers, which Russia has used to strike Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people,” they said.
US INTEL SAYS NORTH KOREAN MISSILE DEBRIS IDENTIFIED IN RUSSIAN ATTACK ON KHARKIV: REPORT
“We are gravely concerned by the deepening DPRK-Russia cooperation” in “flagrant violation” of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, the statement said, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name.
Moscow and Pyongyang have denied accusations of arms transfers, but vowed last year to deepen military relations.
Friday’s joint statement condemned Russia’s March veto of a U.N. resolution that would have extended the mandate of an expert panel tasked with monitoring the implementation of U.N. sanctions against North Korea.
“We call on the DPRK and Russia to cease unlawful arms transfers,” the statement said.
Days before its mandate expired, the U.N. panel submitted a report confirming that, in a violation of U.N. sanctions, a North Korean-made ballistic missile known as Hwasong-11 had struck the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
Since Russia’s veto, the U.S. and its allies have sought alternative ways to coordinate and monitor sanctions on North Korea. The alleged North Korean arms transfers to Russia have also prompted responses from South Korea and Japan, Britain and elsewhere.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department called it “the largest multilateral coordinated DPRK sanctions action to date.”
“We urge both countries to immediately halt their malign activities,” the spokesperson said.
The joint statement called on North Korea to take concrete steps towards abandoning its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs and to return to diplomacy.
World
France bans Israeli companies from weapons exhibition
French Defence Ministry suggests the decision is linked to Paris’s opposition to the continuing Israeli invasion of Rafah.
France has banned Israeli companies from participating in this year’s annual Eurosatory arms and defence industry exhibition in Villepinte near Paris next month, the event’s organisers and French authorities have said.
“By decision of the government authorities, there will be no stand for the Israeli defence industry at the Eurosatory 2024 fair,” organisers Coges Events said on Friday.
The French Defence Ministry suggested that the decision was linked to Paris’s opposition to the continuing Israeli assault on Rafah in southern Gaza.
“Conditions are no longer met to host Israeli companies at the show at a time when the President is calling for Israel to cease operations in Rafah,” the ministry told the Reuters news agency.
Seventy-four Israeli firms were set to attend the event from June 17 to 21 at fairgrounds close to Paris’s main international airport, with Coges previously saying about 10 of them were to exhibit weapons.
Last week, a group of activists issued a legal warning and urged Coges to take measures to avoid buying and selling weapons that could be used in “crimes” committed in Gaza or other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory.
ASER, Stop Arming Israel, Urgency Palestine and the France-Palestine Solidarity Association also warned against profits from the fair “reinforcing the economic power of firms likely to participate in these crimes”.
Coges told the AFP news agency that it was “a fair solely for the presentation of defence and security equipment … and in no means a place for deals.”
Friday’s announcement came just days after Israel bombed a camp for displaced people in Rafah in southern Gaza, setting off international outrage and widespread protests in France.
President Emmanuel Macron also said he was “outraged” over the Israeli air raid that killed 45 people in the encampment.
In previous weeks, France joined other Western nations in urging Israel against invading Rafah, which had become home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians forcibly displaced from other parts of Gaza.
Israel has ignored those warnings and pushed on with a major offensive against Rafah, displacing about one million people from the city. The assault, which saw Israeli forces take over the Rafah crossing with Egypt, has also worsened the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Last week, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the top United Nations court – ordered Israel to halt its attacks on Rafah.
At least 36,284 Palestinians have been killed and 82,057 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7.
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