Andy Kim Leads Tammy Murphy in NJ Senate Poll

[NJCher]

Story by Tracey Tully • 7h
Al Drago for The New York Times

New Jersey’s first lady, Tammy Murphy, has widespread institutional backing as she vies for a seat in the U.S. Senate. She is also outpacing her opponents in the race for campaign cash.

But the first independent public opinion poll in the campaign suggests she is significantly trailing her main Democratic primary opponent, Representative Andy Kim.

About 32 percent of New Jersey Democrats support Mr. Kim, a third-term congressman from South Jersey, compared with 20 percent who support Ms. Murphy, according to the survey released Friday by Fairleigh Dickinson University.

When voters were asked if they “strongly approved” of each of the candidates, Ms. Murphy, a first-time candidate, lagged Mr. Kim by 11 points. The Democratic primary is not until June, and the race is only beginning to heat up. Still, Dan Cassino, a Fairleigh Dickinson professor who led the poll, said Ms. Murphy had significant ground to make up, despite name recognition that the survey showed exceeded Mr. Kim’s.

Link to story.

If you go to the link, be sure to read all the way to the end. The last paragraph tells which groups are donating to which candidates. For examples, pharmaceuticals and lawyers to Tammy Murphy, academics to Andy Kim.

[SheilaAnn]

1. Former Jerseyian here and was proud to donate to his campaign. n/t

[NNadir]

2. I'm a Kim guy and I vote.

[Mossfern]

3. I don't like the perception of nepotism

I wonder which way our County Democratic leadership is leaning - Essex -Leroy Jones is Chair and Joe DiVincenzo as County Exec. Essex is machine politics coming from the North Ward in Newark.
Most candidates need to "kiss the ring" in order to even get on the Democratic ballot.

[cliffside]

4. Breaking down the county-by-county battle between Andy Kim and Tammy Murphy

https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/breaking-down-the-county-by-county-battle-between-andy-kim-and-tammy-murphy/

"Every once in a while, there’s an election that makes the other 49 states suddenly pay a huge amount of attention to New Jersey politics. Next year’s explosive race for the United States Senate, with First Lady Tammy Murphy and Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown) running for the seat held by indicted Senator Bob Menendez, is definitely one such election.

And with the national spotlight comes a renewed focus on the county organizational line, the unique electoral system that dominates politics in 19 of New Jersey’s 21 counties. Though the mechanics in each county are different, the basics are the same: the county party makes an official endorsement for every office, and then groups its preferred candidates in the same column or row and under the same slogan on primary election ballots...."


"Essex County (Newark, plus Montclair and other large suburbs)
Registered Democrats: 296,879 (11.2% of statewide total)
Endorsement process: Decided almost exclusively by county party leaders, mainly county Democratic Chair LeRoy Jones and County Executive Joe DiVincenzo

... Since Jones and DiVincenzo have both publicly said they’re supporting Murphy, this year’s race is settled. Kim’s campaign could still have a strong off-the-line presence in Essex County’s deeply progressive, high-information suburbs like Montclair or South Orange, but party support is off the table."