Educator Amy Kennedy, a member of the famous Democratic political family, on Tuesday won the hard-fought Democratic primary to take on party-switching Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew this fall in South Jersey’s 2nd District.
The Associated Press called the race at about 9:15 p.m., and Montclair State University political science professor Brigid Callahan Harrison conceded earlier in a YouTube video.
Gov. Phil Murphy, who endorsed Kennedy toward the end of her campaign, joined her at her victory rally. “I can’t believe we won the lottery here in South Jersey,” he said.
Kennedy used her victory speech to call for better-paying jobs and affordable health care. She bemoaned the twin crises of the coronavirus and the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.