it looks like the first lady's top opponent is democratic Congressman Andy Kim who said he joined the race because he wants to restore trust in government and was angered by Senator menendez's refusal to step down the former Road scholar and Obama administration staffer received early support from Progressive groups but not the party power Brokers making this race a test of New Jersey Democratic machine Congressman Andy Kim joins me now Congressman Kim it's good to see you W this is really becoming a crowded field uh for this Senate race just your reaction first off of the first ladyes bid today uh well look uh for me I'm gonna continue to do what I've been doing over the last month and a half which is get out there and connect with people and I'll tell you uh you know the energy has been electric and it's there's so much hunger for a new kind of politics what I'll say look anyone is allowed to be able to jump in and run that is uh what our democracy allows for right now I feel like we're still in the strongest position a poll came out today I had me up uh 19 points over the first lady 35 points over the senator so I feel like we're continuing to be in a strong position and getting the kind of response from the voters that we need well you were first out of the gate to denounce uh Senator Menendez to uh put your bid in there in terms of uh wanting to run of course Larry ham also had declared a candidacy um but also with fundrais where does that stand because we know the first lady is a pretty prolific fundraiser um how do the numbers look for you right now oh really strong I mean as you pointed out you we raised about a million dollars in the first week of this campaign we're continuing to go strong and look uh you know I'm somebody that's won three of the toughest races in recent New Jersey history Democrat that won districts that Trump won I have been able to raise well over $20 million in the last few years for these tough races so uh I'm GNA be armed to the teeth we're GNA have the resources that we need to be able to get the message out all across the state so you're battle tested correct yes that's a a good way to say it we're battle tested I've gone up against three straight self funders and three consecutive races I know what it's like to to have uh you know someone that we're going up against that's going to have a lot of resources so uh you know we feel ready for this and like I said the the main thing is is that this needs to be a choice for the people of New Jersey and what kind of Step they want to see the party and the our politics take going forward after this scandal with Senator mandez and I really do believe that from when I've been hearing people want change people want a politics of integrity and people want people with experience that know how to do the job and be able to have that commitment to public service and I hope to be able to bring that all to the state you've said Congressman that you want to end the county organization political line system which gives uh folks who have that backing an advantage when it comes to the primary ballot do you see your run as a test of the political establishment the Democratic political establishment in New Jersey yeah look what I've been talking about and this is well before I even thought about running for United States Senate is about how do we make a democracy that is more inviting more accessible more uh engaging to the regular American and that's something that I think is important yes I have thoughts about uh ballot designs but but also about campaign Finance reform about voting rights and other things like that so I do think that there's a lot that the Democratic party and our politics re large needs to be thinking about in terms of making that more accessible what I'm trying to do right now this is about just giving the people a vote and giving the people a choice and and that's really what all of us should be committed to is just making sure we have as fair and as open of a process to be able to make sure that people are have that chance to participate in their democracy right now we live in a time of the greatest amount of distrust in government in modern American history 84% of people in New Jersey believe that their politicians are corrupt we have to respond to that otherwise we are not doing our part will you or are you seeking the line in your candidacy yeah look I'm doing everything that I can to be able to win and as as you said earlier I'm battle tested I know what it takes to be able to win uh you I'm meeting with uh leaders all across the state telling them why I think I'm the strongest candidate not just in the primary but especially in the general election you know I'm somebody that won a district Trump won uh I can be not only guaranteeing this victory at the Senate level but I can help with uh candidates and races up and down the ballot you know especially further down when we're going to have some challenges there uh you know that's something where I hope people see the value that I can bring across the board you're back in New Jersey today after uh a pretty interesting vote in the house obvious viously it appears anyway that there's going to be a government shutdown averted how difficult was it to get that bipartisanship on the house floor to pass a temporary spending Bill well we have had a tremendous amount of chaos over the last two months in Congress I mean re large over the course of my entire five years in Congress but uh it's been really difficult to be able to have any semblance of normality in terms of what comes next I have a lot of colleagues that just simply don't want the government to be able to continue they are looking for ways to shut it down great thankfully we're able to to get uh a ability to push forward on a piece of legislation that will push that off until the new year be able to keep our lights on keep our government going on through the rest of this year but we still haven't solved this problem and the American people deserve better they deserve a government and leaders that are committed to making sure that we are being responsive to the needs so we have to keep it up but right now uh a lot of what's happening in Congress is is missing the mark and falling well short of what the people of New Jersey deserve Congressman Andy Kim with us thank you Congressman for your time thanks for having me [Music]