Democrat Andy Kim projected to win New Jersey's Senate race
One of New Jersey's Senate seats is up for grabs this year after Bob Menendez was convicted of federal corruption charges and resigned in August. Available race results show that Democrats are poised to retain control of the seat, as Rep. Andy Kim has a commanding lead -- 53% to 45% -- over his lead opponent, Republican hotelier Curtis Bashaw with 70% of the vote in.
READ MORE | Democrat Andy Kim of New Jersey to become first Korean-American Senator, ABC News projects
Notably, before tonight, polling suggested that, a good chunk of voters didn't know enough about either candidate to have strong opinions of them. This didn't appear to hurt Kim, though, who will make history as the first Korean American senator.
In a sense, this result shouldn't be too shocking. New Jersey's voters haven't elected a Republican presidential candidate since 1988, when the state went for George H.W. Bush. And in the U.S. Senate, Democrats have won every race in the state since 1972.
Bashaw and Kim are among six candidates who ran to fill Menendez's seat. George Helmy, a former chief of staff of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, is temporarily filling the role.
