Socials Congress

Congress Member

Andy Kim

Democratic

Senator
State: NJ

New Jersey

via: nj.com

Andy Kim dishes about Democrats’ midterm chances, life after Trump, Sherrill’s performance | Mikie’s World

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the latest edition of a weekly newsletter on the beginning of Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s tenure and the often-stormy politics surrounding her. You can subscribe here.

A talk with Sen. Kim

This week, it’s Andy’s World.

A few months ago, I took a break from the Mikie Sherrill focus of this newsletter to chat with another top Jersey Democrat, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker.

Now, I’m doing the same with the other Dem who represents the Garden State in Congress’ upper house, Sen. Andy Kim.

(We’ll get to the latest on Sherrill — including what I’ve learned about when she’ll move into the governor’s mansion — in the Hot Takes section below.)

Kim and I spoke over the phone last week, with the country about three months away from this fall’s midterm elections. The races will determine whether Democrats can wrest control of Congress from Republicans two years into President Donald Trump’s second go-round. Kim, a 44-year-old first-term senator, isn’t on the ballot in November, but he’s optimistic about Dems retaking the House and Senate (poll numbers show the former looks good for them and the latter is possible).

We also discussed the electoral hot streak the left wing of his party has seen lately, with several progressive (and Democratic Socialist) candidates scoring upsets over establishment opponents. The growing debate is whether this is a grand awakening that aligns with what voters want (especially younger voters) or if it’s an excessive veer to the left that could backfire with the broader population. Kim knows a bit about upending Democratic norms, having scored a progressive-stirring and system-bucking victory two years ago in Jersey’s last Senate race (despite critics on both sides of the aisle who’ve accused him of opportunism and political theater).

Here’s our conversation, which also includes his thoughts on his new healthcare plan for children and how Sherrill — his former congressional colleague — has done after six months as Jersey’s governor.

Q: How are you feeling about Democrats’ chances of taking the House and Senate?

AK: “I think the starting point is: How does America feel about Trump? And I think it’s very obvious that Trump is deeply unpopular, that his very clear not just disregard but disdain for doing anything when it comes to affordability is pissing a lot of people off. And this Iran war of his is one of the most unpopular things I’ve seen any leader do. And I think that’s something that is just on everybody’s mind. I was just literally walking by a TV here at the Capitol with a bunch of staff that were just staring at him, talking about the Strait of Hormuz and, you know, people just really yelling at the TV about their gas prices. People were pissed off. So now it’s upon the Democrats to be able to provide an alternative to that. I ran in the 2018 midterms, and I’ll say that the energy that I see on the Democratic side is even stronger now than it was back in 2018. So I’m hopeful that means that we’ll have a really strong ability to create that contrast and that choice for the American people. I think we have a real good chance of winning the House and a growing chance to win the Senate.”

NOTE: The majority of recent polls show Trump’s approval rating in the 30s and his disapproval marks in the 50s.

Q: Republicans and other critics say Democrats’ main message is anti-Trump and the party should have another angle. What should Democrats’ message be right now?

AK: “I think it’s incredibly important, first of all, that we show the American people what Trump’s record is. So we do need to make sure we’re pushing that message out. And that is exactly what is on people’s minds — whether or not people feel like they’re better off now than they were in, you know, Jan. 19, 2025. Now, I also will say it’s not like when I won in 2018, it wasn’t just that I was opposed to what Trump and the Republicans were doing in gutting the Affordable Care Act. I talked about what I want to do in terms of lowering prescription drug costs, in terms of safeguarding people with pre-existing conditions, and allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. And you know, that’s what we’re talking about, as well. We’re talking about lowering these tariffs, we’re talking about restoring people’s healthcare that was taken away from these Medicaid cuts. And I’m talking about bigger ideas as well, like MediKids, which is about guaranteeing healthcare for every single child in this country. And so I think it’s important that we talk through the big ideas and the vision, give people a sense of what to hope for, aspire towards, not just what we’re angry about and what we’re opposed to.”

NOTE: Kim last month unveiled his proposal for MediKids, which would give all children born in America federal healthcare coverage free of charge until they are 26. The bill likely has little chance of passing Republican-controlled Congress. The question is whether it would get momentum if Democrats take over.

Q: What do you think Democrats’ message will be once Trump is out of office? Your party may be in charge by then. What’s the vision for the post-Trump world?

AK: “It’s not even just post-Trump. I mean, if we take back a gavel, hopefully two, in the House and the Senate, what are we going to do with that? I mean, yes, we’re going to make sure we’re doing oversight and making sure that we are holding to account the blatant corruption of the Trump administration and the dangers of their actions. But we also should be putting forward affirmative legislation that’s a positive agenda for the people, and that’s what I want to push forward on. So what I did with MediKids, I hope that that is one of these seminal pieces of legislation that a Democratic House and Senate would push forward if we take back power in these midterm elections, and that would happen even while Trump is in office. We need to be showing what agenda we’re going to take on. And I think that would feed into the 2028 presidential election in the same way that we were able to use our agenda in 2019 and 2020 to feed into the sense of what comes next with a Democratic administration.”

Q: Your lawsuit in 2024 helped bring about the downfall of Jersey’s notorious county-line ballot system. Now its demise is official after the final county clerk dropped his legal challenge. Looking back, with the issue settled, are you surprised this actually happened? It was a shock to many of us who have followed Jersey politics for years.

AK: “Yeah, that’s exactly how I felt. It was still kind of mind-boggling to me that it all fell into place. We had a very small core team of people that knew I was doing this before it became public. There were only a handful of us, including the lawyers. I was talking to them about the first time that we met and actually talked about this and how I was just trying to get some sense of: Is this even possible? ... So I’m really proud of what we were able to do. Just a handful of us that took that initial plunge and also how it just generated the response from thousands of people who once they saw that this was possible, they were just so supportive. And I think it really taught me a lot about what it takes to give people that sense of vision. ...

“Of the things that I’m gonna accomplish in my career, something like this is gonna change Jersey politics forever. The last thing I’ll just say is: The work’s not done. What I was trying to do is just fix the broken politics of New Jersey writ large. The county line was a major tool, if not the most powerful of their tools. But there’s lots of other problems that I see in terms of dark money, in terms of patronage, in terms of other ways in which our politics is continuing to show corruption and continuing to show brokenness that just causes such distrust in the people. That fight’s going to continue on.”

Q: One criticism is the county line’s disappearance has opened the door for more money to pour into politics and have more influence on elections because party leaders lost some control. Is that a fear or something that needs to be addressed?

AL: “Well, money writ large, yeah, of course. I don’t want money in politics, what we’re seeing, at any level of government. If there are people in Trenton that want to work with me in terms of how to pull back and stop the big amounts of money that’s going into the government — we’re trying to do it in D.C — I welcome that. But anyone trying to use that as a justification for the county line is wrong. In that case, if you don’t want any money in politics, why don’t you just have one person decide everything? You know, I’m sure a dictatorship would be a lot cheaper in terms of the number of commercials you have to run to win an election, right? But that’s not the direction we should be going.” (laughs)

Q: We’re now six months into Gov. Sherrill’s tenure. How do you think she’s done?

AK: “She is somebody that has come in with a lot of energy. I loved that she came in and really tried to set out a new agenda. The budget problems have been just really difficult. She knew that from the outset how difficult it was going to be. And I have to say that’s going to continue to be a challenge for her as she pushes on. But in terms of just the focus on affordability, trying to figure out how to address the energy challenges that we have as a state. She’s been working with me incredibly well on trying to build out business and innovation and technology growth in the state of New Jersey. I’ve pushed forward on this idea of this Einstein Corridor to build a tech hub at the next level in New Jersey. She’s been very supportive in working with me on these types of things. She and I were good partners when we were in Congress. And I feel like now this is just a couple years after we started both of our paths in politics that we’re now both doing statewide in New Jersey, I hope that we’ve been good partners to each other.”

Q: She recently said she’d be open to supporting signing some form of voter ID in Jersey, though she wasn’t specific about what kind of law she’d sign. Where do you stand on voter ID?

AK: “I think the challenge that I see right now is that while there are sensible discussions here about what kind of form is valid ... For instance, my parents, they don’t drive anymore, they don’t travel anymore. They don’t have a valid driver’s license or a passport. What is it we’re going to say is going to constitute here? Are we saying that’s OK to be able to prove that you have residency with utility bills or other things that you can bring to a DMV? Is it about an affidavit that you could sign? I’m OK having conversations about this in a way that understands this is the most fundamental right that we have as a democracy, and we need to make sure that everyone that is eligible to vote can vote. And when we’re not giving out free IDs and when we are continuing to have people who — especially those that are unhoused — having difficulty getting photo IDs, what are we talking about here? ...

“I don’t know how this conversation is going in Trenton. But down in D.C., I very much see the arguments being made about ID to be very much weaponized towards trying to push forward on a level of voter repression that I think is absolutely antithetical to our democracy.”

Q: There’s been an ongoing debate of whether Democrats are moving too far to the left. Is that something that could be a problem for the party? Some think there needs to be some sort of pushback against the far left. What’s your reaction to that?

AK: “What I’ll just say is: Right now, it’s incumbent upon the candidates to be talking about, again, big ideas, talking about what they’re going to do to be able to change things. Right now, there is a deep anger in this country about our politics and real anger when it comes to the status quo. So I would just say the Democratic Party needs to recognize that and be on the side of saying, ‘We’re not trying to protect the status quo, governance, and politics in America that the vast, vast, vast majority of people in this country are opposed to. We want it to change. We want the reforms, we want to fight against corruption, but we also want big ideas on how to solve these problems.’ That’s not something that any single part of the Democratic Party has a monopoly to. It’s not just about one side or the other. ... I’d like to see that kind of messaging from everybody in the Democratic Party across the spectrum.”

Hot takes

SHERRILL MOVES IN: Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced Friday she and her family formally moved into Drumthwacket, Jersey’s governor’s mansion in Princeton, this week (confirming something I reported in the email edition of this newsletter). I’m told the move includes husband Jason Hedberg and all four of their children, two of whom are midshipmen at the Naval Academy and two of whom are high school age. Sherrill — who revealed for the move in April — is just the third Jersey governor to live there and the first since 2004. She and Hedberg said they are “thrilled to call it home. Drumthwacket is more than the Governor’s residence — it is ‘The People’s House.’” The change of address also means Sherrill’s drive to Trenton will now be only 20 minutes, compared to the hour-long trek she currently takes from her home in Montclair. But it’s still unclear how much this will cost taxpayers.

A NEW PAC: Jersey’s Republican circles were abuzz this week as a new GOP political action committee, NJ Legacy PAC, held its first fundraiser. Monday night’s speakers in West Windsor included former Gov. Chris Christie and a pair of possible gubernatorial candidates, state Sen. Mike Testa and state Assemblyman Paul Kanitra. Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore was among the hosts. Tickets ran from $250 to $10,000. And the event came as Jersey’s GOP is sharply divided over how to move forward after last year’s losses in an increasingly blue state in this age of Donald Trump. The goal of the PAC, Gilmore told me, is to raise money for Republican candidates “without any litmus test” heading into 2027’s legislative elections and the 2029 governor’s race. Gilmore denied the PAC is challenging the state GOP, though he said “we can’t keep doing the same things.” State party chair Christine Hanlon said she was not at the gathering and her “focus is on rebuilding the NJGOP.” Christie told the crowd Republicans need to fight “not with each other” but against Democrats, starting by winning legislative seats back next year “to send a message that what Gov. Sherrill is doing now is not what she promised to be when she ran last November.” Not everyone is on board with the PAC. “Imagine thinking these people should have ANY say in the future of our party,” right-wing podcaster Mike Crispi said.

COACH CHRISTIE: It’s no secret Christie has re-emerged as a presence in Jersey politics this year. One Republican insider said Monday’s appearance was part of a “Christie comeback” even if it may not be “his time” anymore. Some wonder whether it could be a precursor to Christie running for office again. “Does he see himself getting the jersey back on or transitioning to coach?” another GOP strategist asked. Christie told me in a phone interview Thursday morning it’s “much more the latter. I can’t even imagine what office I’d run for. The fact is: This is not what this is about. Me and a lot of the members of my team have a lot to offer the people trying to be winning candidates going forward.” Christie said he’s not an official with the PAC but agreed to speak because he has good relationships with those involved. He said he stayed away from Jersey politics for years to “give the party an opportunity for other leadership to emerge. ... But no leadership that was a winning leadership emerged in those eight years. I want to come back and remind anyone I can of the goals here — a winning attitude.”

VOTING ERROR FALLOUT: Lots of questions remain about Sherrill’s disclosure that thousands of noncitizens were wrongly registered to vote in Jersey a few years ago. U.S. House Republicans have given her administration until Aug. 17 — this coming Monday — to produce documents related to the issue. A source familiar with her office’s thinking said the letter “will be responded to” and stressed the Sherrill administration has begun removing ineligible voters from the state’s rolls and investigating what happened. “This is Republicans doing the Republican playbook, trying to weaponize this,” the source added. “The governor has been very clear she is going to do everything in her power to protect people’s personal data and that elections are run by the state.” Sherrill previously rejected the Trump administration’s demand for data on the noncitizens registered. House Republicans are also calling for information from IDEMIA, the company Sherrill has partly blamed for the error, though the firm disputes her account. Republicans believe GOP-controlled Congress will ultimately hold hearings on the controversy in the coming months. “They have the power to make her do something,” one Republican insider said, noting it’s not the same in Jersey’s Democratic-controlled Legislature. Meanwhile, the New Jersey Globe reported about a Dumont woman with a green card who learned she was registered to vote despite never attempting to. And the New York Times reported the Trump administration is increasing its push to identify and deport noncitizens registered to vote. One Dem insider admitted the state’s error was “bad” but added: “I kind of feel like it’s worse for the people who got erroneously registered.”

DELANEY HALL UPDATE: The Sherrill administration has opened a new front in its ongoing opposition to the Trump administration, launching a civil rights investigation into Delaney Hall. This comes as Democrats are drawing attention to three deaths that have been tied to the ICE immigrant detention facility in Newark. Meanwhile, there were more protests outside the building this weekend. And on Tuesday, U.S. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries joined Rep. Analilia Mejia, other Jersey Dems, and immigrant families at a Morristown church for a roundtable on Delaney’s conditions and what Jeffries called Trump’s “unjust and inhumane” immigration policies. Jeffries said Dems are “committed to an accountability agenda” if they win back the House this fall, though he didn’t provide specifics. The White House called Tuesday’s conversation “smears by sanctuary politicians.”

NATIONAL SHERRILL: A day after she endorsed several fellow military veterans running for Congress this fall, Sherrill joined Jeffries in California last week to speak to Dem House candidates in battleground districts. It all adds fuel to the idea that Sherrill is already a potential contender for national office. “She has a lab-created background,” one Dem operative stressed. One GOP strategist scoffed, saying “some of those folks are gonna win whether she shows up or not. ... This is about her helping herself.”

JACK’S NEXT GIG: The Republican who lost to Sherrill last year, Jack Ciattarelli, has joined the newly formed board of advisers at Open Road Ventures. The Indiana-based private equity firm, which specializes in freight and transportation, said Ciattarelli brings “a wealth of experience in government and public policy.”

GOP MIDTERM CHANCES: Three months to Election Day, Democrats are feeling bullish about their chances of retaking Congress in this fall’s midterms. So how are Republicans feeling? I asked a few Jersey GOP insiders. “Next question,” one joked. “F**king awful,” another said more bluntly.

SCHOOL FUNDING UPDATE: Sherrill has said one of her next big goals is revamping Jersey’s long-debated school funding formula, and she recently announced the state Department of Education will oversee a steering committee this fall to find ways to overhaul it. The effort has the support of Dem state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, who told me the state needs to end “remarkable swings in funding” from year to year.

NO BALLOT QUESTIONS: The Aug. 3 deadline has passed for putting referendum questions on November ballots. That means three issues Dems considered asking Jerseyans to decide won’t go before voters this year: redrawing congressional districts, putting casinos outside of Atlantic City, and a call by Sherrill to enshrine legal abortion into the state constitution. I asked Sherrill whether Dems could revisit them in the coming years. “Certainly,” she said. One Dem insider cautioned that all three of those issues still pose “challenges.”

SHERRILL VS. BIG TECH: Sherrill followed up on a campaign vow Tuesday by signing three laws aiming to increase children’s safety online. The biggest would place new restrictions on social media companies regarding children’s use of their platforms. The other two would study the issue more broadly. “‘Big Tech’ isn’t just the big tobacco of our era. They are worse,” she said in Jersey City. “They’ve designed platforms that hijack our kids’ attention spans.” I asked if she expects tech companies to sue. “We’re not gonna take no for an answer,” Sherrill said.

SHERRILL VS. FULOP: Sherrill on Tuesday took another swipe at former Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who she clashed with and ultimately defeated in last year’s crowded and bitter Dem gubernatorial primary. Talking about the state’s recent $120 million bailout package to Jersey City, Sherrill called Fulop a “very bad mayor” who put the city “in a great deal of debt.” One Republican insider texted me: “Almost Chris Christie of her.” Fulop hasn’t commented on Sherrill’s barbs since leaving the state earlier this year to run a business lobbying organization in New York City.

SHERRILL AND NJ TRANSIT: A few weeks ago, I asked insiders, advocates, and academics to rate Sherrill’s performance so far after six months on the job. But a reader noted I didn’t address how she’s handled a perpetually sticky topic: NJ Transit. After all, riders often deal with delays, canceled trains, and aging infrastructure. So I asked Philip Plotch, a researcher and senior follow at the Eno Center for Transportation in New York City. Plotch said agency president Kris Kolluri is “an excellent agency head” and by appointing him to lead both NJ Transit and the Turnpike Authority, Sherrill “sent an important signal that the state will continue to use” toll revenue to “provide NJ Transit with needed resources.” He also gave Sherrill “credit for taking ownership of NJ Transit” and requiring the agency to develop an improvement plan. (The reader, though, said NJ Transit trains and states are still rife with problems.) Plotch said Sherrill and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul “have lots of room for improvement when it comes to working together to solve regional problems.” And he warned Sherrill faces federal funding challenges down the road.

GOLFING FOR CODEY’S CAUSE: Friends, family, and politicos will take to the links at Upper Montclair Golf Club in Clifton on Aug. 31 to honor Jersey’s late former governor and longest-serving state lawmaker at the inaugural Gov. Richard J. Codey Memorial Golf Outing. The charity event will raise money for the nonprofit Codey Fund for Mental Health, which aims to expand access to mental health care, a hallmark of Codey’s career. “This outing is an opportunity to celebrate that legacy, bring people together around a cause he cared deeply about and continue the work he began,” said Kevin Codey, his son and the fund’s president.

SHERRILL’S UTAH PICK: Few in Jersey were likely familiar with Christopher Lewis Peterson, the consumer protection attorney Sherrill recently picked as the next director of the state Division of Consumer Affairs. But Utah voters know him. That’s because Peterson was a former Democratic candidate for governor in the Beehive State, losing the 2020 race to now-Gov. Spencer Cox. (I will use this as my excuse to encourage everyone to listen to this excellent Randy Newman song.)

WE’RE NO. 2: New Jersey, the state everyone loves to hate, finished second in a new WalletHub ranking of the top American states to live in. Jersey’s official X account used an image of Tony Soprano to send a message to the No. 1 entry, Idaho: “Nobody wants to hear you talk.”

R.I.P.: Our state lost a great one this week as Greg Tufaro died of cancer at age 59. Most recently, Tufaro was chief of staff to Dem state Sen. Patrick Diegnan. But more people know him as a deeply respected, influential sportswriter for the Home News Tribune. I worked with Greg in the sports department there when I was just starting out, and he was an invaluable mentor to me and so many other upstart Jersey journalists, showing us how to do our jobs with passion. He was an even better person. After daughter Marisa died at age 13 in 2017 of a cardiac defect, Greg and wife Cyndi established a fund in her honor, raising half a million dollars. Greg was simply one of the best. Read my colleague Keith Sargeant’s touching obituary to learn why.

A BREAK: The newsletter will go on hiatus in the next few weeks while I’m on vacation. Thank you as always for reading and writing, and we’ll have more soon ...

Andy Kim

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Andy Kim dishes about Democrats’ midterm chances, life after Trump, Sherrill’s performance | Mikie’s World