Rep. Andy Kim gets first Senate endorsement in bid to replace Menendez

Driving the news: Fetterman, who was the first senator to call for Menendez to resign over the explosive bribery allegations in his federal indictment, called Kim “a man of integrity and deep honor.”

• In a swipe at Murphy’s support from New Jersey’s Democratic political machine, Fetterman said “we're seeing it, now, taking on powerful political bosses as he fights to restore integrity to the Senate.”
• The freshman senator also took a dig at Menendez, saying he feels “very secure knowing that [Kim] has no gold bars underneath his mattress and won't ever be accused of being a foreign agent for Egypt or Qatar."

The state of play: While Murphy hasn’t been backed by any senators – New Jersey’s other senator, Democrat Cory Booker, has kept his powder dry so far – she has the support of several of Kim’s fellow New Jersey House Democrats.

• Kim, by contrast, has been endorsed by a half dozen of his House colleagues – but, as with Fetterman, they are all from neighboring Pennsylvania.
• Perhaps more importantly, Murphy has racked up support from Democratic Party chairs in several of the state’s most populous counties, a major boost under New Jersey’s idiosyncratic electoral system.