New Jersey Democratic Rep. Andy Kim announced Saturday that he’ll run next year against Sen. Bob Menendez in the wake of the senator’s indictment and refusal to step down.
“After calls to resign, Senator Menendez said ‘I am not going anywhere.’ As a result, I feel compelled to run against him. Not something I expected to do, but NJ deserves better. We cannot jeopardize the Senate or compromise our integrity,” Kim posted on X, the platform previously known as Twitter.
Kim has been representing New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes suburbs east of Trenton, since 2019. He won reelection last November by more than 10 percentage points.
This is Andy Kim. Earlier on this day, he had gone to the Capitol to do his job before a crowd of over 2,000 deranged people broke into the building, determined to do violence, and he took shelter with his co-workers. Once the situation was under control, Andy Kim returned to his duty: to certify New Jersey votes for Joe Biden.
The session ran late that night and Kim was exhausted when he was walking through the Rotunda to head home - but he was stopped by all the trash and debris the insurrectionists had left behind. He couldn’t leave it that way. He found some trash bags and spent a couple hours on his knees, cleaning up what had been left behind. When he finished, he quietly went home, and returned to work the next day.
These are the type of people we should have representing us.
You can tell he’s a progressive because he was actually interested in cleaning up a mess republicans made.
I’ll be honest, if it was me that day, I’d probably have been so fried after the long day and fearing for my life that I’d have gone home and let someone else do the cleaning. But no. He put his exhaustion aside and put some effort into cleaning things up. We need more people like Andy Kim in Congress.
So, Andy Kim is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
We already know the Democratic Party will use incumbency as an excuse to prop up an anti-choice candidate if they are challenged by a progressive. Let’s see if it’s used as an excuse to prop up an openly corrupt candidate as well.
Why do we already know that? The democrats, unlike Republicans, generally crack down on stuff like this pretty quickly. I mean look at Gov Cuomo or Al Franken.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he steps down in the coming weeks
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We already know the Democratic Party will use incumbency as an excuse to prop up an anti-choice candidate if they are challenged by a progressive.
Why do we already know that?
Henry Cuellar is how we know.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
New Jersey Democratic Rep. Andy Kim announced Saturday that he’ll run next year against Sen. Bob Menendez in the wake of the senator’s indictment and refusal to step down.
Kim made headlines following the January 6, 2021, insurrection after he was photographed cleaning up the debris and trash left at the Capitol by the rioters who ransacked the building hours prior.
Menendez was first appointed to the US Senate in 2006 to fill the vacancy left by Jon Corzine, who had been elected New Jersey governor.
The indictment alleged that the couple accepted bribes, which included gold, cash and home mortgage payments, in exchange for the senator’s influence.
Democrats in Menendez’s chamber have been slow to comment on the indictment, including junior New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.
In 2015, Menendez was charged with conspiracy, bribery and honest services fraud relating to allegedly abusing the power of his office.
The original article contains 528 words, the summary contains 148 words. Saved 72%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Smh. One bad apple spoils the barrel.
Upvote for correct usage of the term. Democrats at least have a basically decent track record on this. Often going too far to preemptively even eliminate the appearance of impropriety in some cases. Republicans on the other hand. The barrel full rotted away 50-100 years ago. And the barrel itself has decomposed. Leaving the rotting ooze to go everywhere and get on everything.
Thanks. You’re accusing only the other side of being drunker than Cooter Brown on rot gut brandy.? To my mind, most of the rest are just better at “handling” (hiding) the intoxication of bling and bam (money and power). With apologies to a washed-up hip-hop artist, “…you can’t change the system from within, because the system changes you.”
Are there exceptions? Perhaps to some degree, but even that seems optimistic, some days.
Not at all. That’s your projection. All corruption isn’t equal. While both parties absolutely have corruption issues. (In a system that values capital over people corruption is inescapable) one party is magnitudes worse. Democrats despite having corruption issues. Absolutely do better addressing much of it. And regardless of whether Menendez shows morals and steps down on his own. Or is run out and replaced by voters. Or switches affiliation to a party that openly embraces all corruption. His time as an elected Democrat is already limited.
Did you notice how you didn’t address what was said? Instead accusing of claims that weren’t made. I didn’t down vote you. But this is exactly why many did. Because you aren’t engaging in good faith. I’d argue that a lot of what both major parties do is a stain on both of them. Bit I’m not blind or partisan enough to pretend they’re the same. Or that the democrats are worse. Because there’s no objective measure by which they are. Despite all their problems.
Oh I addressed what you said. You just didn’t hear me. Dems are “better” at addressing issues, see Nancy Pelosi first reaction at calling for politicians to halt insider trading, Joe Manchin boarding his “boat” to evade constituents wanting answers, Sinema, rotating villains, Overton windows, etc ad nauseum. This is late stage capitalism, end-stage climate catastrophe. I’m just old and jaded, stuck in the dead and glorified confederacy,. but you do you. I don’t think either of us are arguing in “bad faith,” but you’re entitled to your prerogative.
That in no way addresses my claim. I heard you. You’re not arguing in good faith. I made the objective true statement that despite still being problematic and flawed. Democrats actually do handle this on the whole better. I did not say they are blameless perfect or always right. To which you got offended. Because you are not actually participating in any good faith debate.
If Republicans do 100 corrupt things before lunch and no one gets punished by their fellow Republicans for it. And Democrats do 100 corrupt things before lunch. And only one Democrat is held responsible by other Democrats for it. They are objectively better. Not by much. But it is a factual statement. You are claiming the existence of any corruption negates ever having a possibility of being better in any way. Which is a non sequitur.
What? And you accuse me of projection? You’re projecting, fancying yourself a mind reader, and don’t see it like I do. I said what I said, no more, no less, so let me put it in simplest terms: both parties are screwing us. Idk how long you’ve been following politics, and I’m not claiming to be omniscient either, but just because one party is objectively gentler doesn’t mean they are noble or don’t come riddled with disease.
