Senate hopeful Rep. Andy Kim joined CD-9 Democrats in Paterson on Friday evening to stoke even more Get Out The Vote enthusiasm. As for the House of Representatives, CD-9 sees a race pitting late Congressman Bill Pascrell’s successor, State Senator Nellie Pou, against Republican challenger Billy Prempeh, who faced Pascrell in the 2022 and 2020 election cycles. Green Party candidate Benjamin Taylor and Libertarian Party candidate Bruno Pereira are also in the running to succeed Pascrell, who served the 9th District from 2013 until his death in August of this year. Pascrell previously represented CD-6 from 1997-2013. He served as Assemblyman for LD-35 from 1988-1997, and that Assembly seat was won by Pou after Pascrell moved on to Congress.

The last part

Passaic County Democratic Chairman John Currie rallied his troops around Congressman Kim, State Senator Pou, Passaic County Commissioners Cassandra Lazzara, John Bartlett, commission candidate Rodney De Vore and sheriff candidate Thomas Adamo. Currie, referring to the county’s ground operation, urged everyone to increase the push to get more mail-in ballots, saying a significant number of requested absentee ballots had yet to be returned. “We still have mail-in ballots. at people’s homes. Let’s go! These are people who asked for this vote…we have work to do.”

Currie said Democrats did well in the cities of Paterson, Passaic and Clifton, and had strong support in Haledon and Prospect Park. The other suburban cities, however, appear to be firmly in Republican hands. Currie said the key to a Democratic victory would have to be in Passaic County, where Pou had the strongest name recognition compared to the Hudson and Bergen portions of CD-9.

When Congressman Kim was invited to speak, Currie joked that running a statewide campaign really showed “how big New Jersey is.” The forty-two-year-old congressman addressed the party faithful in an introductory manner, discussing his family and personal background as well as his career in government before entering the House of Representatives for CD-3, a red district that favored Trump both times.

“I feel blessed to be able to serve,” Kim said, “and when the call came to run for Congress, I decided I wanted to continue serving in that way. I come from a part of New Jersey that is deeply Republican. Trump won my district handily in 2016. I challenged my Republican congressman, who won his previous election by 20 points. This is a district that is 85% white and less than 3% Asian. A lot of people said there’s no way someone like me could win a district like that. But I said I have as much right to represent that district as anyone else. I’m just as American as anyone else.”

Kim went further and looked at the presidential race from the point of view of his two young children. “I am humbled, but I also recognize the responsibility that comes with (running for Senate), especially at a difficult time. I truly believe this is a historic moment for the country. I believe the next four to five years will shape the next four to five decades. The question now is: what do we do about it? I am a father of a 9 year old and a 7 year old and I am a father who worries about what kind of America my children will grow up in. If the next four to five years will determine the next Four to five decades, that’s the biggest chunk of my children’s lives that could very well take shape in the next four days. We must give everything we can to be able to mobilize and be involved, to be able to raise up great public servants in this era of division. I can’t wait for Nellie (Pou) to join me in the US Congress.”

Kim thanked Currie for the opportunity to speak with Passaic leaders and the two emphasized that nothing can be taken for granted in this election, making clear to the assembled Democrats the need to energize the base as the latest days are over.

Gov. Murphy: Kim Non Grata?

One topic that was not discussed during any of the speeches was Governor Phil Murphy. This wasn’t surprising, considering the coolness that exists between Kim and the Murphys. First Lady Tammy Murphy had launched an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate against Kim, Patricia Campos-Medina and Larry Hamm. Murphy was believed to be the preferred candidate of the state Democratic Party apparatus, but Kim attracted a large grassroots campaign that went against the County Line ballot design. Tammy Murphy withdrew from the race and the Democratic party line — the county parties’ strongest tool — was thrown out in court in favor of a less biased draft. In short, several party bosses are not entirely fond of Kim, but this has also given credence to his candidacy as ‘popular’ rather than ‘machine’.

Kim faces Republican businessman Curtis Bashaw of Cape May in his bid for Senate. Bashaw, who describes himself as a moderate, openly gay entrepreneur who has no political background, has received significant support from Republican base counties such as Ocean, Morris and Monmouth.

The fall has proven unseasonably warm so far, but even in light of Election Day approaching, you can sense a chill between the Murphy team and the Kim campaign. Governor Murphy and the First Lady have a busy schedule in the coming days as part of the crucial GOTV effort, but appear to be avoiding Kim. The governor will endorse a campaign event for Congresswoman LaMonica McIver, who succeeded the late Congressman Donald Payne in a special election in CD-10. The First Lady will support Sue Altman in her bid to unseat Republican Congressman Tom Kean Jr. in CD-7, while the Governor will deliver a speech in Clifton on behalf of State Senator Pou. The First Lady is expected to deliver remarks to New Jersey volunteers heading to Pennsylvania to help the Harris campaign, while her husband beats the Democratic drum in Bergen County. The two will reunite in East Brunswick for the Middlesex County Democrats. These events are obviously not related to supporting the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate – at least not directly.

The precedent of political violence

Congressman Kim became a nationally recognized figure immediately following the January 6, 2021 insurrection, in which a mob of Trump supporters violently breached the U.S. Capitol in a failed attempt to stop the certification of the presidential election. Kim was photographed picking up debris from the floor of the Capitol and the Smithsonian later asked if he would donate his blue suit worn in the photo.

Democrats fully expect electoral chaos to ensue from the Trump campaign in the event of a Harris/Walz victory on Tuesday. The former president routinely casts doubt on the security of elections, calling them rigged and corrupt, and has never conceded defeat to President Biden after the 2020 election. According to NorthJersey.com, the threat of political violence is a major concern for six in 10 New Jersey residents.

InsiderNJ asked Congressman Kim, who had served as National Security Advisor to President Obama, for his thoughts and whether or not he was concerned about a continued threat of political violence in the near future.

“This is a very scary and volatile time,” Kim told InsiderNJ, “and I worry about political violence because we’ve already seen it, whether it’s on January 6, or the assassination attempts and things like that. I never thought I would experience this in my lifetime, so this is very concerning in terms of what happens next. I worry about whether it’s the threat of violence, or actual violence, or these types of legal challenges that are trying to undermine our elections and the voices of so many people. That sows doubt in our system, creating a large part of this problem and only eroding confidence in our democracy. So yes, I worry about all kinds of threats to our democracy.”

When asked if the Biden administration had taken steps to further protect American institutions, or to respond to an unforeseen event like 2021, he said some protocols had been put in place. “We have taken a number of steps. In Congress, we passed the Electoral College Count Act, a law that would reduce some of the confusion on January 6, allowing Trump and others to try to change what we did that day. We’re hopeful that this will close some doors, but we know there are many more challenges, especially several legal challenges at the local level that are trying to undermine the election on that front. This is a major problem, and the sheer number of people spreading baseless claims about fraud, misinformation, and other things is causing such serious harm to our country.”

While New Jersey is expected to hand over handily to Vice President Kamala Harris, the fallout and fallout from the next four days — and the days and weeks that shape afterward — could indeed reverberate for decades.

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