Andy Kim can only remember talking to John Fetterman in person once. Their political styles and looks could not be more different: The Bunyanesque Pennsylvania senator who prefers hoodies and shorts is renowned for off-the-cuff comments and posting punchy political memes on X, while the three-term New Jersey Rep. Kim is a soft-spoken former diplomat who regularly shares wholesome photos of his young kids in Star Wars costumes or playing with Legos.
But despite their opposite demeanors, scarce interactions — and drastically different heights — Kim and Fetterman have become an unlikely pair tied by a mutual disgust for an indicted senator, Bob Menendez. In Kim’s heated Senate primary to replace Menendez, Fetterman became one of the most vocal outside voices on New Jersey politics. They can be considered Washington’s “Odd Couple,” and chances are they’ll be colleagues in the Senate next year.
“I don’t know why we’re odd,” Fetterman said at the Capitol. “We’re both Democrats. We both probably assume Menendez is a total sleazeball. And we’ll both be in the Senate. We seem to have a lot together in common.”
For someone who has made a career of defying norms, Fetterman has stood out as being the lone, non-New Jersey voice in the Senate routinely calling for Menendez’s resignation — rankling Kim’s home state colleagues. Fetterman aligned with the Garden State’s revolting low-level Democrats in the Senate primary by expressing distaste for New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy, who he said relied partly on nepotism to try winning the nomination.
It all adds to the persona of an iconoclastic political figure who speaks his mind — whether anybody asked him to. Kim certainly didn’t.
“I don’t know him very well, but I certainly respect somebody who has that kind of confidence in who they are, their style, their approach. It’s not easy. Like so much of politics — there’s pressure to kind of conform on a lot of different levels. There’s pressure to not stick your neck out,” Kim added. “I hope to be able to get to know him better.”
That seems likely. Kim was considered the outsider in the race against Murphy but is now gliding towards the Democratic nomination after she dropped out in March. A Fairleigh Dickinson University poll this month showed Kim with a nine-point lead over Republican challengers after his chief rival for the Democratic nomination for Senate left the race.
Kim focused much of his campaign on making New Jersey…
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