New Jersey's County party bosses are potentially on the verge of a massive shift to their power after a marathon hearing on Monday in a federal courtroom in Trenton over the constitutionality of the state's ballot design more often referred to as the Partyline system during nine hours of oral arguments lawyers representing Congressman Andy Kim who brought the lawsuit and others in support of ending the line argued it goes against the pursuit of democracy because it gives an unfair fa advantage to those who were awarded the line and prospective candidates have dropped their election bids in the past if they didn't secure the endorsement Kim is locked in a heated primary race against first lady Tammy Murphy for the US senate seat currently occupied by embattled senior senator Bob Menendez attorneys for the defendants which are the 19 counties that use this ballot structure argued it's just not feasible to change how candidates are grouped on a ballot design before the June election the court hearing took place as Murphy nabbed her eighth organization line from Gloucester County Democrats though it may not matter much after the judge issues a ruling I'm joined now by the man at the center of this lawsuit representative Andy Kim Congressman uh thanks for giving us a few minutes of your time today a whirlwind 24 hours if I may say that a marathon hearing yesterday did you get any indication from from the judge how he's leaning after the testimony uh well thank you for having me um no no indication um you know he was somebody who was uh very clear he wanted to be fair about this and and really have a a structured process uh but I I do appreciate the ability for us to be able to make our case and be able to talk about why we think this is unfair and why we think this is unconstitutional and I I was really proud of our team in terms of what we were able to put forward you spoke for about an hour as I understand it uh what was the Crux of the argument you presented personally well the the Crux of the argument is that you know this is a system unlike any other system in the United States 49 other states in America use an office block ballot a very standard uh ballot for our elections uh New Jersey does not we're the outlier and we do it in a way that allows uh Party leaders to give preferential placement to their preferred candidates and that's that's just not fair you know uh organizations the parties they can endorse candidates as they would like but just you know don't structure that in terms of a ballot line on the uh on the El for the elections and you know that's what's causing this to be unfair and that's what we're asking to change the defendants argument about the timing of this and and getting this all done in time for the primary um was the the main point point that they made do you see a clear path to Victory if you don't win this case well well first thing I want to just say is uh you know it should be noted how they're really not making an argument countering what I said about the unfairness of this process uh and you know I I I think that that's something that we really need to know because um you know it just what was their actual argument on that front um and so if it's about viability of of what we can get done you know we feel like we present Ed that expertise as well show it can be done in time uh but look regardless I will be on the ballot on June 4th and I believe that I have a very strong path to Victory no matter what happens in the courtroom and you know I'm going to continue to push on as hard as I can what was your reaction Congressman to the attorney general's decision to weigh in at the 11th hour and how much weight do you think it'll have on this case I'm not sure you know what weight it'll have but certainly uh you know for me as a resident of New Jersey it was powerful to hear our our chief law enforcement officer of the State uh give that strong of an opinion about what he assesses you know this is uh someone that um you know is in in the highest leadership positions when it comes to these types of issues um and I think that certainly it's causing new jerseyans to take note how it impacts the court I I do not know but it was a very important and very courageous step forward either way whichever way this case goes it seems at least as though this is going to reshape politics do you think this has created an inflection point for Democrats well I think the inflection point has already happened you know like I I really do believe that Jersey politics has already changed and it's just a matter whether or not the political leadership in this state realized it but U you know be between the indictment of the senator and then this Senate primary and what's happening with his attention to um the ballots as and what we seen in the reaction for the public about transparency and Oprah I mean like we're seeing a a change already happening um so you know I really do think Jersey politics will be different and it'll be changed going forward win or lose you see things being different moving forward absolutely I mean as I said I think it's already changed uh and we're I'm hoping that we can keep that change going and and have it happen fast because the people demanding it you know they they you see that I mean you see that in you know the my 85 point win in Morris County 76 Point win in Atlantic County at these conventions you know people are ready for uh change in New Jersey Congressman Andy Kim thanks so much for your time thanks for having me