{"id":5114,"date":"2020-11-10T16:39:36","date_gmt":"2020-11-10T21:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/?p=5114"},"modified":"2020-11-10T16:39:36","modified_gmt":"2020-11-10T21:39:36","slug":"kim-declares-victory-becoming-first-democrat-to-retain-nj-3-seat-since-civil-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/2020\/11\/kim-declares-victory-becoming-first-democrat-to-retain-nj-3-seat-since-civil-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Kim Declares Victory, Becoming First Democrat to Retain NJ-3 Seat Since Civil War"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"U.S.<\/a>

U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D-3) declares victory in the 2020 election via an online stream. (Screenshot)<\/p><\/div>\n

U.S. Rep. Andy Kim declared victory in his race to retain one of the nation\u2019s most hard-fought congressional battles, securing another two years in office and reaching a stunning milestone: Kim is the first Democrat since the Civil War to be elected to a second term representing New Jersey\u2019s third congressional district.<\/p>\n

Kim celebrated victory at his campaign office in Burlington County, holding a press conference just after 4 p.m. that was streamed via social media. He was joined by campaign workers, supporters and his family, including his parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019ve put together here has been extraordinary,\u201d said Kim. \u201cThis moment is one I am incredibly proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim, a popular incumbent, faced a challenge from Republican David Richter, who entered the race after Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2) switched parties to become a Republican. Richter was initially planning to run against Van Drew and does not reside in the third district, an issue which some voters could not overcome. Numerous political action committees also attacked Richter\u2019s business record in a slew of television advertisements, making the race an uphill battle despite half the district being located in heavily Republican-leaning Ocean County.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, the question is: what do we do with this?\u201d Kim asked. \u201cWe\u2019ve shown that the election of 2018 wasn\u2019t a fluke \u2026 but you\u2019ve heard me say before that Election Day isn\u2019t the finish line, it\u2019s the starting line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim highlighted three issues he specifically wants to tackle in his second term: healthcare reform, climate change policies and resolving \u201csmall business hardships\u201d brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. He also called for more civility in public discourse.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just about better policies, but better politics,\u201d Kim said. \u201cWe need to find a real way to be able to heal our country. No one came out from this election thinking, \u2018everything is going to be okay.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Richter conceded the race Tuesday morning following a final accounting of all ballots cast in last week\u2019s election.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there remain many votes still to be counted in the race for the third district seat, it is highly unlikely that our current vote deficit can be overcome,\u201d Richter said. \u201cSo earlier today, I called Congressman Kim and congratulated him on his re-election victory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Results in the Ocean County portion of the third district were much narrower than expected, with Richter besting Kim by 26,380 votes. In Burlington County, a Democrat stronghold, Kim led Richter by 58,227 votes.<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Rep. Andy Kim declared victory in his race to retain one of the nation\u2019s most hard-fought congressional battles, securing another two years in office and reaching a stunning milestone: Kim is the first Democrat since the Civil War to be elected to a second term representing New Jersey\u2019s third congressional district. Kim celebrated victory […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3,17],"tags":[579,11],"class_list":["post-5114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-ocean-county-news","tag-andy-kim","tag-toms-river-nj-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Screen-Shot-2020-11-10-at-4.13.14-PM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}