Prominent New Jersey Democrats see Rep. Andy Kim as the obvious choice to replace Sen. Bob Menendez following his guilty verdicts Tuesday. But Gov. Phil Murphy would not say whether he would name Kim if — or when — the Senate seat opens up.
Murphy said Tuesday he’ll choose a “temporary” replacement for Menendez if he resigns or is expelled from the Senate following his conviction on all 16 counts in his corruption trial. One person close to the Murphy administration granted anonymity to speak about internal deliberations said that while it’s not impossible that Kim could be appointed, “unlikely is probably fair.” And Murphy could be sensitive to accusations of helping his own party in an election by giving Kim the advantage of incumbency.
Menendez immediately faced renewed calls to step down, but it’s unclear if he will leave office on his own or force an expulsion vote, which is rare. He has maintained his innocence and plans to appeal.
While most statewide officials stopped short of urging the governor to appoint Kim to the seat should it open up, several Democratic leaders POLITICO spoke with said it would at least be the logical thing to do since Kim won the Democratic primary in June. However, that came after a brief but intense nomination battle with the governor’s wife, first lady Tammy Murphy.
“I think that makes sense. But, that’s in the hands of the governor. He has the sole authority to do that,” said Democratic State Chair LeRoy Jones.
State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth), while qualifying that it’s the governor’s decision, said Murphy “should appoint Andy Kim for seniority.”
“Andy Kim won the Democratic primary with almost 80 percent of the vote. So he’s the overwhelming choice of registered Democrats in the state,” he said.
Kim — who is in his third term in the House of Representatives — told reporters during a quickly arranged remote press conference on Tuesday that he would accept the appointment if offered by Murphy.
“If asked, I would accept,” Kim told reporters. “But that is a decision for the governor.”
Relations between Kim and the Murphys remain strained, and Kim’s lawsuit that upended the “county line” for Democrats — the ballot design used for decades in most New Jersey counties that gave party-backed candidates an advantage — still rankles some party leaders. But appointing Kim to the seat would give New Jersey’s newest senator a bump in seniority over the rest of the incoming 2025 class, should Kim win the general election in November against Republican Curtis Bashaw. (New Jersey has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972).
Seniority helps determine committee assignments and chairmanships. So the state’s influence could increase significantly based on its senator having just a couple extra months in office.
Murphy in a statement Tuesday did not say who he would appoint should Menendez’s seat open up. “I reiterate my call for Senator Menendez to resign immediately after being found guilty of endangering national security and the integrity of our criminal justice system,” he said. “If he refuses to vacate his office, I call on the U.S. Senate to vote to expel him. In the event of a vacancy, I will exercise my duty to make a temporary appointment to ensure the people of New Jersey have the representation they deserve.”
Natalie Hamilton, a spokesperson for Murphy, said that Murphy’s office “does not comment on potential appointments.”
Menendez is still running for reelection to the Senate as an independent. While his odds were slim before the conviction, they are even narrower after a jury found he accepted bribes from New Jersey businesspeople and acted on behalf of the government’s of Egypt and Qatar. He has until Aug. 16 to take his name off the November ballot.
Some party leaders expressed reservations about appointing Kim, but still liked the idea of naming him to the seat.
Atlantic County Democratic Chair Michael Suleiman said Republicans might accuse Democrats of “putting the thumb on the scale for Kim to win.”
“This election is probably going to be closer than people think, and we don’t want to take Bashaw lightly,” Suleiman said. “Candidly, the fact that we haven’t elected a Republican senator in 51 years and it’s likely to be Andy Kim, why not?”
When asked whether he would be concerned about leaving a Democratic House seat vacant in the event he is appointed to the Senate, Kim said that Democrats would still have a “number of different tools” to block House Republicans, citing the Senate Democratic majority and President Joe Biden in the White House.
“I think what's important is that New Jersey has been kind of a representation that it needs in the Senate,” Kim said. “I feel very confident no matter what happens, we'll be able to stop a lot of the dangerous things that speaker Mike Johnson and the Republicans in the House have been pushing forward.”
Murphy has previously ruled out the possibility of appointing his wife to the Senate seat should it become vacant.
“I don’t see any scenario where that would be the case,” the governor said during a radio show last October.
Menendez and his co-defendants face sentencing on Oct. 29.
