Senate-hopeful U.S. Rep. Andy Kim joined with CD-9 Democrats in Paterson Friday evening to drum up some more Get Out The Vote enthusiasm. As far as the House is concerned, CD-9 sees a race where the late Congressman Bill Pascrell’s successor, State Senator Nellie Pou, is facing Republican challenger Billy Prempeh, who had faced Pascrell in the 2022 and 2020 election cycles. Green Party candidate Benjamin Taylor and Libertarian Party candidate Bruno Pereira are also running in the contest to succeed Pascrell, who served the 9th district from 2013 until his death in August of this year. Previously, Pascrell represented CD-6 from 1997-2013. He served as the Assemblyman for LD-35 from 1988-1997, and that Assembly seat was won by Pou after Pascrell advanced to the Congress.

The Final Stretch

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 district ground operation, urged all gathered to increase the pressure in getting more mail-in ballots submitted, saying that a sizeable number of requested absentee ballots had yet to be turned in. “We still have vote-by-mails in people’s houses. Let’s go! These are people that requested this ballot… we’ve got work to do.”

Currie said that the Democrats were doing well in the cities of Paterson, Passaic, and Clifton, and had strong support in Haledon and Prospect Park. The other suburban towns, however, seem to be firmly within Republican hands. Currie said that the key for a Democratic victory was going to have to be in Passaic County, where Pou carried the strongest name recognition compared to the Hudson and Bergen parts of CD-9.

When Congressman Kim was invited up to speak, Currie joked that running a statewide campaign really showed “how big New Jersey is.” The forty-two-year-old congressman spoke to 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 went for Trump both times.

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

Kim continued, looking at the presidential race from the vantage point of his two young children. “I’m humbled but I’m also recognizing the responsibility that comes with [running for Senate] especially at a difficult moment. I truly believe that this is a historic moment for the country. I believe the next four to five years are going to shape the next 4 to 5 decades. Now, the question is, what do we do about that? I’m a father of a 9-year-old and a 7- year-old and I’m a father worried about what kind of America my kids are going to grow up in. If the next four to five years shape the next four to five decades, that’s the bulk of my kids’ lives that could very well be shaped in the next 4 days. We’ve just got to give this everything we can to be able to mobilize and be able to engage, to be able to have great public servants step up in this era of divisiveness. I can’t wait to have Nellie [Pou] be able to join me in the United States Congress.”

Kim thanked Currie for the opportunity to talk to the Passaic leaders and the two emphasized that nothing can be taken for granted in this election, hammering home to the gathered Democrats the need to energize the base as the last days wind down.

Gov. Murphy: Kim Non Grata?

A subject not discussed during any of the speeches was Governor Phil Murphy. This was not surprising, considering the coolness which exists between Kim and the Murphys. First Lady Tammy Murphy had launched an unsuccessful bid for US Senate, running against Kim, Patricia Campos-Medina, and Larry Hamm. Murphy was presumed to be the preferred candidate of the State Democratic party apparatus, but Kim drew a large, grassroots campaign around him, running against the County Line ballot design. Tammy Murphy withdrew from the race and the Democratic party line—the strongest tool of the county parties—was thrown out in court in favor of a less biased design. In short, several party bosses are not altogether fond of Kim, but this has also given his candidacy credibility as being “popular” rather than “machine.”

Kim faces Republican businessman Curtis Bashaw from Cape May in his bid for senate. Bashaw, defining himself as a moderate, pro-choice, openly gay entrepreneur who does not come from a political background, has seen significant support from Republican base counties such as Ocean, Morris, and Monmouth.

The autumn has thus far proven unseasonably warm, but one might sense a chill between the Murphy team and the Kim campaign even in the face of the looming election day. 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 support 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 be stumping for Sue Altman in her bid to unseat Republican Congressman Tom Kean, Jr., in CD-7 while the governor delivers a speech in Clifton on behalf of State Senator Pou. The First Lady is expected to deliver remarks to New Jersey volunteers headed to Pennsylvania to help the Harris campaign as her husband bangs the Democratic drum in Bergen County. The two will reunite in East Brunswick for the Middlesex County Democrats. These events, of course, are not connected to supporting the Democratic nominee for US Senate—not directly, at least.

The Precedent of Political Violence

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

Democrats fully expect electoral chaos to come out of 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 following the 2020 election. The threat of political violence, in fact, is a major concern in 6 out of 10 New Jerseyans, according to NorthJersey.com.

InsiderNJ asked Congressman Kim, who had served as a national security advisor for 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’ve been worried about political violence because we’ve already seen it, whether on January 6th, or the assassination attempts, and other things like that. I never thought that I would see this in my lifetime, so this is very worrisome in terms of what happens next. I’m concerned whether it’s the threat of violence, or actual violence, or these types of legal challenges that are trying to undermine our election and undermine the vote of so many people. That is sowing doubt in our system, causing so much of this problem that is just eroding trust in our democracy. So, yes, I’m concerned about all sorts of different threats to our democracy.”

When asked if measures had been put in place by the Biden Administration to further protect American institutions, or respond to a contingency like 2021, he said there had been some protocols put into place. “We took some steps. In Congress we passed the Electoral College Count Act, which is an act that would reduce some of the types of confusions on January 6 that allowed for Trump and others to try to change what we were doing on that day. We’re hopeful that that will close certain doors, but we know that there are lots of other challenges that are out there, especially different legal challenges at the local level that are trying to undermine the election on that front. This is a major problem, and the sheer amount of people who are spreading unfounded claims of fraud, misinformation, and other things is doing such severe damage to our country.”

While it is expected that New Jersey will handily be delivered to Vice President Kamala Harris, the consequences and impacts of the next four days—and the days and weeks shaped thereafter—may, indeed, resonate for decades to come.