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Incumbent Rep. Andy Kim (D) defeated businessman Bob Healey Jr. (R) in the race to represent New Jersey’s 3rd congressional district Tuesday night.
The Democrat won a third term in a district that voted for former President Donald Trump in both 2016 and 2020, beating Healey—the chair of yacht manufacturing company Viking Group—by a clear margin.
Kim, a former diplomat who served under both Republican and Democratic administrations, currently sits on the congressional Foreign Affairs, Armed Services and Small Business committees. He gained national attention when he was photographed clearing debris from the Capitol Rotunda after the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Though he is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Kim portrayed himself as more moderate on the campaign trail.
“I try to live and breathe bipartisanship,” Kim said in an October debate. “93% of the substantive votes I’ve done this Congress have been bipartisan.”
New Jersey’s 3rd district was redrawn in 2022 to include more Democratic voters than it did in the two previous elections.
Abortion was a main issue throughout the race, with both candidates accusing the other of holding extreme views. Kim, who voted twice to codify Roe into law, said he will continue to support reproductive rights and oppose a 15-week ban now pushed by the GOP. Healey said he would leave the issue to the states.
Kim said that his top policy priority is to “bring down costs for working families.” In an interview with the Courier Post last week, he highlighted his role pushing through legislation to lower health care and medication costs. He also out-raised Healey this election cycle, bringing in nearly $6.5 million to Healey’s $4 million.
Kim, who started a PAC to recruit Asian Americans for elected office in 2020, became the second-ever Korean American to serve in Congress when he defeated then-incumbent Tom MacArthur (R) in 2018 by a narrow margin of 50% to 48.7%.
In 2020, Kim won re-election in a comfortable margin—53.2% to 45.5%—against business executive David Richter (R) despite his constituents’ support for Trump.
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