Immigration and gun control among key issues for Rep. Andy Kim in Senate race

NEW JERSEY (PIX11) -- The race to fill the U.S. Senate in New Jersey seat left vacant by the resignation of Sen. Bob Menendez after he was convicted of bribery is heating up.

The race comes down to Democratic candidate Congressman Andy Kim, who represents District 3, and Republican candidate Curtis Bashaw, a businessman hailing from Cape May.

In his battle to become the Democratic candidate, Kim defeated a controversial ballot design unique to the Garden State. It gave local party bosses unrestrained influence over elections, giving party-backed candidates an advantage in the primaries. 

Ahead of Election Day, the congressman sat down with PIX11's Dan Mannarino for the special "New Voice for NJ: Race for U.S. Senate" to talk about his top priorities, including issues that he hopes to address on both national and local levels.

Immigration

Kim says he thinks the country needs to have more control over its borders but many politicians use immigration more as a talking point than actually trying to solve issues.

"What you are seeing is not just a crisis but a completely broken immigration system. It's been broken because of decades of neglect by politicians refusing to try and take real steps to fix this," he said. "Right now, a lot of my colleagues who yell the loudest about immigration, don't actually want to solve this. I've talked to them. They just think this is a good political talking point that riles people up."

To fix the immigration system, Kim is calling for more investment in immigration judges and judicial resources.

"We have about 680 immigration judges and about 3 million pending immigration cases. There's no way they can address all of those needs. It will take them 10 years just to get through the backlog that we have now," he said. "The practical things that show we can take care of our own borders while staying true to a country that wants to make sure that immigration is true to our heritage."

Gun control

Gov. Phil Murphy and New Jersey officials have enacted many gun laws and restrictions, including a ban on AR-15 rifles following mass shootings in Sandy Hook in Connecticut and Highland Park in Illinois.

While a federal judge recently ruled the AR-15 rifle ban is unconstitutional, officials continue to push for stricter gun laws. Kim says he hopes to see more progress toward passing gun violence prevention legislation.

"I remember when the massacre happened at Sandy Hook. When I saw that things didn't happen or get fixed after that, I lost hope. If that's not going to galvanize the country, what will? We came together after the Uvalde shooting, another horrific massacre," he said. "Bipartisan communities added the largest piece of gun violence prevention legislation in decades. Did it solve everything? Of course not. Did it move the needle forward? Yes."

Kim added he hopes to have more discussions with Republicans moving forward.

"We continue to see the challenges that are out there regarding firearms and their legality. Red flag laws is a place where I'm having conversations with Republicans and they at least seem open to moving on this," he said. "I'm hopeful those are potential places where we can make more progress in a bipartisan way."

NJ Transit

Riders on the NJ Transit experienced numerous delays throughout the summer, resulting in Murphy announcing a one-week fare holiday to make all rides free. NJ Transit’s on-time performance for June was 69%, Murphy told PIX11 News. 

Kim, who says he and his wife ride the NJ Transit regularly, says he has experienced the outages firsthand and that people in New Jersey deserve reliability.

"It's terrible. I hope I can be part of the solution. That's why I voted on and supported the bipartisan infrastructure law so we can pump millions back into our infrastructure in New Jersey. We also need short-term solutions. We can't just tell people we passed the money and 5-10 years down the road, things will get better," he said. "There needs to be relief right now and that's where I think the federal government really does need to engage. It's not just about NJ Transit but also about Amtrak and making sure we have that system moving forward in a way that is going to help riders."

Presidential election

At the Democratic National Convention, Kim made a speech backing Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz. Kim re-emphasized his support for Harris, citing that she will be pragmatic while facing issues in the Oval Office.

"I want somebody who can think things through and will be pragmatic and practical to the challenges that we are facing. I feel good about having someone like Harris who is thoughtful, engaged, and really trying to figure out problems," he said.

Kim added that while he does not want to see former president Donald Trump in the Oval Office, he will continue to support the Constitution of the United States.

"Whatever the outcome is, we as a country will move forward and support that candidate. I support the Constitution, that's my sworn oath so I'm going to make sure that's followed through. I hope that everybody commits to the Constitution," he added.

PIX11 News also spoke with Republican candidate Curtis Bashaw. Watch the full interview in the video player below.