New Jersey Senate: Andy Kim (D)
Andrew Kim is the son of Korean immigrants who became American success stories.
His father, stricken with polio as a child, came to the U.S. to study and eventually became a Ph.D. scientist who dedicated his life to finding a cure for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
His mother, meanwhile, became a nurse and helped serve thousands of people in New Jersey hospitals.
Kim describes himself as a proud product of New Jersey.
His parents chose to raise him and his sister in South Jersey because they believed its top-notch public school system would give them the best opportunities to succeed.
Kim credits the education he received in New Jersey’s public schools with helping him become a Rhodes Scholar and a leading national security expert — working at the Pentagon and in Afghanistan as a civilian advisor to the military.
Kim studied political science at the University of Chicago before attending Magdalen College, Oxford.
Shortly afterwards, he worked as a civilian advisor at the Department of State, serving in Afghanistan under the Obama Administration.
Inspired to run against incumbent Republican Rep. Tom MacArthur due to his efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kim defeated him in a close election in 2018.
The first Democratic Congressman of Korean descent, he has since served three terms in the House.
On Jan. 7, 2021, after voting to certify the 2020 presidential election, Kim gained widespread media attention for a photograph of him cleaning up trash left behind after the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol.
He later donated the blue suit he wore in the photo to the Smithsonian Institution, which was collecting items from the riot.
Despite his family’s success in the U.S., Kim said he now fears the chaos, dysfunction and extremism in today’s politics will prevent his kids from having the same opportunities that he enjoyed.
“That’s why I’m stepping up and fighting for my family, for my neighbors, for the community that raised me, and for working families across New Jersey in their pursuit of the American Dream,” he says on his campaign website.
He’s also concerned that the corruption charges against Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., have shaken the trust of the people in his state and left New Jerseyans feeling more cynical than ever about the government.
“I’m running for the U.S. Senate to restore that sense of integrity and represent the people of New Jersey with the compassion and trust we all deserve,” he said.
The above was sourced from the candidate’s website.
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