Ted Kennedy’s Daughter-in-Law Amy Kennedy Wins NJ Congressional Primary

Amy Kennedy – daughter-in-law of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, will face off against GOP Rep. Jeff Van Drew in November as she wins New Jersey’s second congressional district democratic primary.

Kennedy vs Van Drew

Kennedy, although a novice in the political world, was endorsed by Gov. Phil Murphy and Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver. One of her opponents – Brigid Callahan Harrison – was backed by State Sen. President Steve Sweeney, as well as the two state senators – Cory Booker and Bob Menendez.

The second congressional district, which Kennedy won, includes Atlantic City and is considered to be leaning towards conservative, as Trump previously won it by close to 5 points in 2016. Kennedy’s opponent – Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who previously defected from the Democratic Party amid the impeachment, won his own primary with more than 80% of the vote.

New Jersey’s Democratic Senate primary was won by Cory Booker, who got his seat in 2013 after serving as mayor of Newark. Booker faced off against Lawrence Hamm.

The primary got pushed back a month due to the coronavirus pandemic, with Gov. Murphy mandating that the elections take place mostly by mail-in ballots. It came as two New York City Democratic representatives are struggling to stay in the political world as Rep. Eliot Engel trails behind challenger Jamaal Bowman, and longtime Rep. Carolyn Maloney has but a small lead against primary challenger Suraj Patel.