NJ-02: Amy Kennedy Defeats Democratic Machine In South Jersey House Primary
When former public school teacher Amy Kennedy declared victory to a crowd of supporters in Northfield, New Jersey on Tuesday night, she identified herself as an agent of change.
“What the results tonight clearly show is that people here in South Jersey are ready for change,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy, who won the Democratic nomination for New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District, is now poised to help the party retake a seat currently held by Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a conservative Democrat who switched to the GOP in December. But her win is also a sign of upheaval in Garden State politics. Kennedy defeated political science professor Brigid Harrison, who had the support of the fearsome South Jersey machine run by insurance executive George Norcross III.
“This is a complete smackdown of the type of nasty, dirty politics, machine politics, negative campaigning, conservative messaging that has for so long been at the center of South Jersey politics,” said Sue Altman, director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, a progressive group that endorsed Kennedy and has mounted a fight against Norcross’s network to push state politics leftward.
Altman noted that Van Drew was a longtime fixture in Norcross’s machine before he switched parties.
“What we have now is an opportunity for change, a breath of fresh air,” she said.
Norcross holds sway over an array of elected officials, county parties, lobbyists and labor leaders who jointly steer the direction of politics in South Jersey and divide its spoils. More than two-thirds of the $1.6 billion in the state’s corporate tax incentives for Camden, New Jersey went to Norcross’s businesses, charities and allies.
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