Democratic Rep. Andy Kim of New Jersey will become the first Korean American in the Senate after winning his race against Republican Curtis Bashaw. Kim’s victory keeps the seat in Democratic hands after it was vacated by former Sen. Bob Menendez, who became embroiled in a corruption scandal this year. Kim, 42, will also be the third-youngest member of the Senate.
Kim is a former diplomat whose work with the State Department and the National Security Council has taken him to Iraq and Afghanistan. In Foreign Policy in 2021, he described his experience growing up as a second-generation Korean American. When “I see Asian Americans across this country declaring with one, proud voice that they belong,” he wrote, “that feels like an act of defiance against the hate and the violence we’ve endured.”
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim of New Jersey will become the first Korean American in the Senate after winning his race against Republican Curtis Bashaw. Kim’s victory keeps the seat in Democratic hands after it was vacated by former Sen. Bob Menendez, who became embroiled in a corruption scandal this year. Kim, 42, will also be the third-youngest member of the Senate.
Kim is a former diplomat whose work with the State Department and the National Security Council has taken him to Iraq and Afghanistan. In Foreign Policy in 2021, he described his experience growing up as a second-generation Korean American. When “I see Asian Americans across this country declaring with one, proud voice that they belong,” he wrote, “that feels like an act of defiance against the hate and the violence we’ve endured.”
In a long interview with me on FP Live last year, just days after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, he described how policymakers needed to reflect on lessons from 9/11 and the war on terrorism and “be very mindful about what comes next.”
This post is part of FP’s live coverage with global updates and analysis throughout the U.S. election. Follow along here.
The post Andy Kim to Become First Korean American Senator appeared first on Foreign Policy.
