Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) will endorse primary bids against those who “fuel corrupt machine politics,” starting with New Jersey Democratic state Sen. James Beach.
Beach chaired a committee that last week blocked Kim from testifying against a bill that would strip power away from the Office of the State Comptroller. After Kim expressed his opposition, Beach accused the senator of backing the president on bills in the Senate, starting a verbal spat.
Kim did not mention his argument with Beach in his video endorsing primary bids.
“I’m announcing that I’ll be supporting challengers against State Senator James Beach and other elected officials who continue to fuel corrupt machine politics in NJ,” he wrote on X.
“Last week’s shameful hearing and vote to gut anti-corruption efforts showed the need for more accountability,” he added. “We halted the bill but need to keep our feet on the gas. We need leaders who represent the people, not powerful interests; and we need a grassroots army to build an anti-corruption movement.”
I’m announcing that I’ll be supporting challengers against State Senator James Beach and other elected officials who continue to fuel corrupt machine politics in NJ. Last week’s shameful hearing and vote to gut anti-corruption efforts showed the need for more accountability. We… pic.twitter.com/wAH85QQ1eo
— Andy Kim (@AndyKimNJ) December 10, 2025
Kim took particular issue with a remark made by Beach directed at a constituent during the hearing.
“A constituent from the crowd spoke out and the state senator, the chairman, looked at him and said, ‘I don’t care about you,’” Kim said in the video. “And I just thought that that was so reflective of the broken politics that we have in New Jersey and frankly around this country.”
Seventy-nine-year-old Beach recently told Politico that he has not decided whether to run for reelection.
New Jersey’s 80 Assembly seats and 40 state Senate seats are up for election in 2027, and the state will elect new congressional members next year as well.
Kim hasn’t hesitated to wade into New Jersey’s electoral politics scene. He has endorsed former Rep. Tom Malinowski to succeed Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) in the special election next year for her House seat, and campaigned for Jersey City Mayor-elect James Solomon.
A lot of Kim’s efforts focus on breaking a system that New Jersey power broker George Norcross helped forge. Norcross was charged with corruption last year, but the indictment was tossed in February. Norcross carries considerable influence in the state, and his support often made or broke races for candidates.
Kim is trying to lift up the progressives left behind by the New Jersey Democratic establishment, applauding his own efforts to toss out the state’s county line ballot system.
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“I think that’s a real testament to getting rid of the county line and making sure that people feel like they can have the right to be able to step in and not have to ask permission, not have to kiss any rings,” Kim said.
Kim was elected last year without the help of some of the state’s Democratic machine. New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy’s bid was backed by the state establishment, but she dropped out of the race right before the Kim campaign successfully sued to drop the county ballot line structure.