it's game on for the state's Marquee political race despite having the support of the democratic party organization and a war chest full of cash first lady Tammy Murphy is lagging behind her main opponent in the Democratic primary for US Senate that's according to the First Independent public opinion poll out today showing representative Andy Kim has a double-digit lead over Murphy the Fairley Dickinson University survey is the first head-to-head look at the race to replace EMB battled SE ior Senator Bob Menendez who's indicated he'll seek reelection but hasn't formally declared a senior correspondent Brenda Flanigan reports the devil as they say is in the details Murphy is leading among a key voting constituency known to deliver big wins Congressman Andy Kim supporters got some good news poll numbers for Jersey Premier political primary matchup show him well ahead of opponent Tammy Murphy in the contentious race for US Senate that pits the Third District Democrat against a first lady backed by the controversial but formidable county line I was really excited to see the numbers of a strong double digit lead four months before election day an fdu survey of about 500 likely Democratic voters Kim collected 32% 12 points more than Murphy indicted Senator Bob Menendez and labor activist Patricia Campos Medina both trail with single digits almost a third don't know who they'll support Murphy scored a higher name recognition but a lower approval rating than Kim my favorable numers are through the roof that was actually probably the strongest favorable numbers I've ever seen or or had in my career and that was staywise and also I felt like the poll really showed that we are the the the campaign that has the most Room to Grow Kim's support according to the poll comes mostly from Suburban white liberals while Murphy pulled higher with more moderate Black and Hispanic Democrats poll director Dan Casino sees a culture Clash we have this big really Revolt among Liber Progressive voters in New Jersey the Democratic party who are saying no we are against T Murphy not because anything said but because she has the party line he says it highlights a deepening party divide over County bosses who control ballot placement Murphy's also enjoyed easier access to Party Support as the wife of Jersey's Democratic governor but poll results also show a big chunk of still undecided voters her Chief campaign strategist says he pointed to the positives we see the first lady putting together a really strong Coalition of the type of Voters that win Democratic primaries uh largely women and voters of color that was great to see um you know I don't think anyone is anywhere near the threshold where they should feel comfortable in this race so there's a long race to go I don't know that this is causing sleepless nights in the Murphy household however ruer analyst Ross Baker says the fdu poll does underscore how this is not your run-of-the-mill no surprises primary it's a barn burner that'll hang on voter motivation Andy Kim you know has clearly a uh has visibility in the state but I think more important I think he has people who are much more passionately devoted to him as a candidate this is basically going to be a ground game and they're going to be a lot of people lot of counties with walking around money that been given to them by the County Chairs uh and in the end it'll turn out to be Tammy Murphy's show poll results show the incumbent who again faces multiple corruption charges with massive 68% disapproval ratings meanwhile Campos Medina who entered the race just three weeks ago felt encouraged despite a late start so once progressives Women Voters of color um and that includes a musang American community and start to understand who is the real Progressive on this race they will start floating towards me the poll included Campos Medina because she's a new candidate and a woman Casino says perennial candidate Larry ham didn't make the cut we don't have a lot of EV any evidence that he's got strong public support we don't have a lot of fundraising we don't have anyone else who include his name in any polls we asked ham for comment he didn't respond the primaries June 4th I'm Brenda Flanagan Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight News