[US Midterm Elections] Andy Kim, 3-Term US House Representative, "Will Show a Different Path"

(Photo by NYT)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] A Korean-American three-term federal congressman has emerged in the United States for the first time in 26 years.

On the 8th (local time), in the U.S. midterm elections, Andy Kim (40, Democrat), a second-generation Korean-American U.S. congressman, secured his third term, according to AP News and The New York Times (NYT).

In the election for New Jersey's 3rd Congressional District held that day, Congressman Kim defeated Republican candidate Bob Hilly to confirm his victory.

As of 11:10 PM, with 81% of the votes counted, Kim led with 54.6% of the vote, about 10 percentage points ahead of Hilly's 44.5%.

With this, Congressman Kim became the first Korean-American three-term federal congressman in 26 years since former Congressman Chang-jun Kim in 1996.

After his victory was confirmed, Congressman Kim held a celebration party with supporters, raising a glass of bourbon. He said, "Many people are growing tired of the collapse of our politics right now," and added, "I want to show them that there is another way."

Having been comfortably re-elected in 2020, Congressman Kim was expected to win early this year as the redistricting ahead of the midterm elections removed the Republican-leaning Ocean County and incorporated areas with strong Democratic support.

However, there was considerable caution about whether the large influx of new white voters, who support the Democratic Party but had no prior connection with Congressman Kim in this district where the white population accounts for 76%, would necessarily be a favorable factor.

Congressman Kim graduated from the University of Chicago and earned a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Oxford in the UK. He is a Middle East security expert. In September 2009, he joined the State Department as an Iraq expert, and in 2011, he served as a strategic advisor to the U.S. military commander stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan. From 2013 to February 2015, he served as an Iraq advisor at the Department of Defense and the White House National Security Council (NSC), respectively.