New Jersey U.S. Senate race between Rep. Andy Kim, businessman Curtis Bashaw will make history
NEWARK, N.J. -- New Jersey voters are electing a new U.S. senator for the first time in over a decade today.
Rep. Andy Kim, a Democrat, and Republican businessman Curtis Bashaw are running in the closely-watched race to replace convicted Sen. Bob Menendez.
Democrats view the New Jersey senate race as key to keeping control of the upper chamber, since registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by about one million. The state has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972.
Polls close in New Jersey at 8 p.m.
Kim wants to restore trust after Menendez scandal
Kim, a three-term congressman, said he's running to restore integrity and trust in government, after Menendez resigned in the wake of a bribery scandal.
"Eighty-four percent of people in New Jersey surveyed believe that their politicians are corrupt. That is what is contributing to the undermining of our democracy and the concerns that so many of us have," Kim said at his Moorestown polling place.
A national security advisor in the Obama administration, Kim touted Democrats' accomplishments, such as lowering prescription drug costs, and criticized former President Donald Trump for eliminating the SALT deduction. Trump reversed his previous position on SALT on the campaign trail this year.
"The work that we did to lower prescription drug costs, as I said, capping insulin costs at $35 a month ... We see right now, just unprecedented level of attacks facing the LGBTQ community, and a lot of those attacks are emanating from colleagues of mine in Congress, Republicans," Kim told CBS News New York.
Kim would be New Jersey's first Asian American senator if Democrats hold the seat.
Bashaw wants to end "one-party monopoly"
Bashaw won the Republican primary by campaigning on ending a "one-party monopoly" in New Jersey.
"New Jerseyans are ready for change and there's just something happening in the electorate that is just exhilarating," Bashaw said. "People are crisscrossing the ballot. There's people voting for Kamala Harris that are very openly saying 'I'm voting for you.'"
Bashaw's platform includes securing the U.S.-Mexico border and the economy. He supports abortion rights and said he would vote in favor of federal legislation that would protect a woman's right to choose.
"I'm a gay married man, I'm pro-choice ... I don't think we can spend our way to prosperity. I don't think that we can regulate our way to success. I believe we need to unshackle our businesses," Bashaw said to CBS News New York.
Bashaw would become the first openly gay senator from the Garden State if the seat flips to the GOP.
There are four other candidates in the race, including from the Libertarian and Green parties.
Gov. Phil Murphy appointed his former chief of staff George Helmy to fill the seat until the election, after Menendez stepped down in August.
