Richter Concedes NJ 3rd Congressional District Race To Kim

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Republican challenger David Richter has conceded the election race in New Jersey's 3rd Congressional District to Democrat Andy Kim, returning Kim to the House of Representatives for a second term.

Richter issued a statement Tuesday morning saying he had called Kim and congratulated him on his re-election after the Burlington County Board of Elections updated vote totals in the race Monday evening.

"While there remain many votes still to be counted in the race for the Third District seat, it is highly unlikely that our current vote deficit can be overcome," Richter said.

Kim did not issue statement immediately but has scheduled a Facebook live event for 4 p.m. on his campaign page.

Unofficial tallies through Monday evening have Kim with 140,504 votes in Burlington and 74,786 in Ocean, and Richter with 82,277 in Burlington and 101,166 in Ocean, giving Kim the lead with 215,290 to 183,443, a difference of 31,847 votes.

Richter had narrowed Kim's lead in the race to just under 31,000 votes as of Sunday, but Burlington County released more than 29,000 votes countywide on Monday. The added tallies extended Kim's lead, and Burlington still has votes to tabulate, including provisional ballots.

Ocean County has roughly 10,000 votes to count, not including provisional ballots. Provisional ballots will begin to be counted Tuesday evening, after the 8 p.m. deadline for the receipt of ballots that were mailed and postmarked Nov. 3.

The Associated Press had called the race on Election Night for Kim, 38, who led by more than 34,000 votes after Ocean and Burlington released the tallies of more than 300,000 ballots cast in the race. But with voter turnout at historic levels, neither Kim nor Richter acknowledged that result, instead preferring to wait for the remainder of the votes to be counted. Nearly 400,000 votes have been cast in the race. Read more: Kim Wins In NJ's 3rd Congressional District: AP

"If you voted for me to represent you in Congress, I want you to know how much your vote means to me," Richter said Tuesday. "I want to convey a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported my campaign for Congress. Whether you volunteered your time, donated your hard-earned money, made an endorsement, or simply shared a Facebook post, I appreciate all that you have done and I am extremely grateful."

"I ran for Congress because I care very deeply about our country, and I wanted to work hard to ensure a better future for my fellow South Jerseyans and for all Americans," said Richter, 54, who also thanked his wife and daughters for their support. "I intend to continue that effort because the success of our great nation —and of each and every one of you — is worth fighting for. I encourage everyone who supported my campaign to do the same."

Kim, whose Facebook live speech can be viewed here, becomes the first Democrat in more than 20 years to be elected to a second term in the district.

Kim's 2018 3,700-vote victory over Tom MacArthur made him the first Democrat to hold the seat since John Adler was defeated by Republican Jon Runyan in the 2010 election. Adler held the seat for one term; before Adler, the seat was held by H. James Saxton for 16 years.

The 3rd Congressional District, was represented by Democrat Frank Pallone from 1988 to 1993, before redistricting moved Pallone to the 6th District, and before Pallone, by Democrat James J. Howard from 1965 until his death in March 1988.

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