Healey Challenges Kim For NJ-3 Seat

NJ-3: Andy Kim (D, incumbent) and Bob Healey Jr. (R)

SOUTH JERSEY — Two Moorestown residents are facing off to represent the reconfigured 3rd Congressional District in New Jersey.

Check back on Election Night for live results in NJ-3.

Incumbent Andy Kim, a former civilian adviser to the military, won his first term in 2018. Challenger Bob Healey is a businessman and philanthropist, serving as chairman of the Viking Yacht Group and founder/president of the Healey International Relief Foundation.

This district now includes most of Burlington County, and a handful of municipalities in both Mercer and Monmouth County. The NJ-3 redistricting favored Kim and the Democrats, as it removed all Ocean County municipalities, which vote heavily Republican — Donald Trump received nearly 64 percent of the vote in for president in the 2020 election — from the district.

Kim won the 2020 race against David Richter with a lead of more than 34,000 votes, when district boundaries included Ocean County. His victory in 2018 against then-incumbent Tom MacArthur was much closer, taking several days to settle.

Two other candidates, a Libertarian and an independent, are also on the ballot with Kim and Healey.

Kim has $3 million cash on hand and has spent about $3.5 million over the course of the campaign, according to campaign finance tracker OpenSecrets.org. Healey has raised $2.8 million and spent most of it, reporting $656,974 cash on hand as of September 30. He self-financed $1.26 million according to OpenSecrets.org.

Kim has a long list of endorsements from labor groups and civil rights organizations. Healey’s endorsements include the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the Log Cabin Republicans’ Political Action Committee.

In recent ads, Healey has been criticizing Kim for crime rates and his links to groups that support defunding police. He’s also criticized Kim’s work with the Obama administration, and support for President Joe Biden’s policies amid inflation and supply chain issues.

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, the second-largest employer in the state, is in this district, so veterans’ and military issues are especially important for voters.

Kim is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and was named Legislator of the Year by the New Jersey Veterans of Foreign Wars earlier this year. He touts the legislation he has supported to fund veteran suicide prevention, and improve healthcare access for veterans.

Healey said defending and strengthening the Joint Base’s mission would be a “top priority” for him in Congress. He criticized the "disastrous" withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and said Biden's policies resulted in Russian President Vladimir Putin's aggression in Ukraine.

As a small business owner, Healey has brought up inflation and government regulation as major problems for his employees and the residents of NJ-3. He said he would support “a constitutional amendment that requires a balanced budget and a new law requiring a supermajority vote in Congress to ever raise taxes.”

Healey and Kim have traded barbs on the other’s abortion views and comments, with Kim’s most recent ad knocking Healey for saying the Supreme Court “made the right call” in the decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Healey does not support a total ban on abortion, and says he believes compromise “can and should be achieved” when it comes to first-trimester abortion.

The other candidates on the ballot are Christopher Russomanno, a Libertarian, and Gregory Sobocinski, an independent running with the slogan “God Save America.”

What municipalities are in this district?

Most of Burlington County: Bass River, Beverly, Bordentown City, Bordentown Township, Burlington City, Burlington Township, Chesterfield, Cinnaminson, Delanco, Delran, Eastampton, Edgewater Park, Evesham, Fieldsboro, Florence, Hainesport, Lumberton, Mansfield, Medford, Medford Lakes, Moorestown, Mount Holly, Mount Laurel, New Hanover, North Hanover, Pemberton Borough, Pemberton Township, Riverside, Riverton, Shamong, Southampton, Springfield, Tabernacle, Washington, Westampton, Willingboro, Woodland, and Wrightstown.

Mercer County: East Windsor, Hamilton, Hightstown, Lawrence, and Robbinsville.

Monmouth County: Allentown, Englishtown, Freehold Borough, part of Freehold Township, Holmdel, Manalapan, Marlboro, Millstone, Roosevelt, and Upper Freehold.