it was a civil but T 90 minutes as first lady Tammy Murphy and Congressman Andy Kim met for the first debate in the battle to secure the Democratic nomination to replace indicted senior senator Bob Menendez the two leading Democratic candidates sparred over on number of topics including Party Loyalty student debt health care and foreign policy the debate was sponsored by the New Jersey globe on New Jersey and The repovich Institute of New Jersey politics at Ryder University and it comes as the race appears to be tightening Tammy Murphy surged ahead early on with a series of high-profile endorsements but Andy Kim has been gaining ground with a 12-point lead over Murphy in the first head-to-head poll so far in the contest there isn't much daylight between the two candidates on key issues but as senior correspondent Brenda Flanigan reports they wasted no time challenging one another's credentials the top two cand Cates in this first debate Tangled without making any deadly gaffs or viral videos Congressman Andy Kim and first lady Tammy Murphy spent much of the 90-minute virtual Faceoff politely skewering each other over political procedures and past Republican connections each insisting it disqualify the other from properly representing Jersey Democrats in the US Senate I worry about uh honestly the the record of the first lady Not only was she a registered Republican voting in every single Republican primary through the Obama Administration but she donated six figures worth of donations to Republican candidate and institutions over time uh I don't feel confident in terms of what her positions are with respect to the Republican Party um the Republican Party left me there was no there was no Road left my opponent has uh sided with the Trump Administration and with the Republicans so many times please check his record out if you don't believe me Murphy noted she's donated a lot more money to Dem Democrats and called out Kim's procedural vote on a republican border Bill the congressman replied he voted to impeach Donald Trump twice Mich Rasmus served as a debate panelist and said both candidates back basic Democratic Values like gun control and abortion rights but I think the the differences in this race are fundamentally political they are fundamentally questions of difference in personality differences of approach I think you see the battle lines I think the battle lines are drawn and you see how this this primary is now going to play itself out nowhere is the battle more Fierce than the question of Tammy Murphy's benefiting from her husband's political influence to gain Insider access to the advantageous county line set by party bosses on primary ballots in 19 of Jersey's 21 counties right now we don't see a fair process when it comes to this Senate race and that's something that I see I know a lot of people across New Jersey see and that's a real problem if we could have agreement on sharing the lines in all 19 counties that have a county line we can make that agreement right now and be able to talk through this about how we can have greater fairness we all are going to continue working within the system that we have for me this is just one piece of the puzzle the fact of the matter is that I am going to earn every single vote that I get by working hard every single day and and visiting and listening to people on the ground but in a post debate Gaggle Kim said the governor is trying to help his wife by leaning on Burlington County Democrats who are likely to give favorite son Kim that coveted County Line during their upcoming convention the governor is literally making phone calls to people in Mike County on behalf of his wife trying to pressure people into having a shared line at the Burlington convention next weekend and I find that ridiculous and frankly repulsive why would Andy Kim go along with um sharing the line that he's expected to win if that's not reciprocated in counties where she's expected to win the line you know it's sort of an All or Nothing proposition Kim didn't name names but Murphy's campaign flatly replied what Congressman Kim saying is not true in his desperate attempt to secure the same county lines he endlessly fundraises off of abolishing Congressman Kim seeing ghosts around every corner two Progressive candidates Larry ham and Patricia Campos Medina failed to qualify for the debate and the incumbent indicted Senator Bob Menendez didn't reply to the debate invitation I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight News NJ Spotlight News