Andy Kim won’t make endorsement in Democratic primary for governor

As the six Democratic candidates for governor of New Jersey jockey for votes and support, there’s one prominent name who won’t be appearing on any of their endorsement lists: U.S. Senator Andy Kim.

Asked earlier today at a senior roundtable he was hosting alongside Newark Mayor Ras Baraka – one of his party’s gubernatorial hopefuls – whether he would make an endorsement in the Democratic primary for governor, Kim said no. In a statement provided to the New Jersey Globe, Kim spokesperson Anthony DeAngelo said that the senator believes the outcome of the primary should be decided by the voters themselves.

“The decision of who carries the Democratic standard in November belongs to the voters and the voters alone,” DeAngelo said. “Senator Kim will keep working with the leaders in an official capacity to stop the dangerous actions of Trump and will work with the eventual nominee to ensure that we win this November and continue to deliver on the change New Jersey deserves.”

Late last year, Kim had said that he would “likely get involved” in this year’s primary elections, which feature some of the most competitive state-level Democratic contests in decades following the demise of the county line. His comments fueled speculation that he could weigh in on behalf of one of the more reform-minded candidates, particularly Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, among the few prominent Democrats to support Kim in last year’s Senate primary against First Lady Tammy Murphy.

“Part of me wants to be somebody that tries to exert some influence to push the candidates as a whole to be thinking more about some of these reform ideas,” Kim said in December. “I’m closely watching how these different candidates are reaching out and who they’re trying to bring into their coalition.”

Evidently, though, Kim has since decided that the expensive, increasingly bitter fight is not one he wants to wade into. As today’s roundtable with Baraka shows, the senator has relationships with many of the candidates running; he was House colleagues with two other contenders, Reps. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) and Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly), for nearly six years.

Kim’s compatriot in the Senate, Senator Cory Booker, has similarly declined thus far to get involved in this year’s contentious primaries.

The same cannot be said, however, for most of the state’s House delegation. Five of the state’s seven House Democrats who are not themselves running for governor have made endorsements: Reps. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) for Baraka, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) for Sherrill, and Reps. Herb Conaway (D-Delran) and Donald Norcross (D-Camden) for former State Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford).