Former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) just endorsed Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown)’s U.S. Senate campaign this morning, and Kim’s main Democratic primary opponent is already coming after him.
In a statement released this afternoon, First Lady Tammy Murphy called for a ban on congressional stock trading, saying that it was a “common sense” reform to ensure politicians aren’t acting in their own financial interest. She then connected the issue to Malinowski, who was investigated by the House Ethics Committee for improper stock disclosures during his time in the House.
“In 2022, Tom Malinowski lost his seat in the United States House of Representatives by substantially underperforming fellow Democrats,” Murphy’s statement says. “This underperformance is likely because of serious issues with Malinowski’s financial dealings raised by the House Ethics Committee, which found ‘substantial’ evidence that he failed to disclose stock trades and violated federal conflict of interest rules while in office.”
Of course, most state Democrats supported Malinowski in his ultimately unsuccessful 2022 re-election campaign – including Murphy’s husband, Gov. Phil Murphy, who said at a rally that “[Malinowski]’s had your back and our back – it’s our job now to have his back and get him re-elected.”
Malinowski also overperformed expectations, losing by just three percentage points in a district that had been specifically drawn to make it harder for him to win re-election. (Some of the map-drawers responsible, as it so happens, were appointed by Phil Murphy, who lost Malinowski’s district by 12 percentage points in 2021.)
Tammy Murphy’s call for a stock trading ban echoes one that Kim has made for several years; Kim is the prime sponsor on a far-reaching bill in the House that would ban all stock trading across the entire federal government. But Murphy argued that because Kim authored that bill after Malinowski’s troubles first came to light, it’s hypocritical for Kim to now accept Malinowski’s endorsement.
“Andy Kim did not call on Congress to ban trading stocks until after former Congressman Tom Malinowski was investigated by the House Ethics Committee,” Murphy’s statement says. “Today, without irony, Congressman Kim proudly accepted an endorsement from former Congressman Tom Malinowski.”
It appears to be the first time Murphy, who has largely run a positive campaign focusing on her own backstory and accomplishments, has directly gone negative against Kim. (Kim’s campaign, meanwhile, has been more willing to publicly critique Murphy, hitting her over her past Republican primary votes and a call a Murphy-affiliated staffer made to the College Democrats of America urging them not to endorse Kim.)
Murphy’s statement also could lead to some blowback in Malinowski’s home turf in the 7th congressional district, where Malinowski remains widely well-liked among local Democrats. Five counties in the 7th district hold open, potentially competitive county convention processes, and anti-Malinowski rhetoric may not go over too well among those county’s Democratic county committeemembers.