Rep. Andy Kim on Tuesday became the first Korean American to win a Senate race in U.S. history, defeating Republican Curtis Bashaw in New Jersey's 3rd congressional district, according to the Associated Press.

Kim, a Democrat, won the state's open Senate seat previously held by Bob Menendez, who last year was indicted on federal bribery and corruption charges.

Menendez was convicted on a group of those charges in July and resigned his seat in August.

The Associated Press called the race for Kim just after 8 p.m. on Tuesday night.

Kim, a three-term congressman from the 3rd District, in central New Jersey, in a recent interview said that becoming the first Korean American would validate his parents' decision 50 years ago to immigrate to the United States. He was the state's first Asian American to be elected to Congress when he defeated a Republican incumbent in 2018.

A former Obama administration national security aide, Kim was a Rhodes Scholar and has a Ph.D. from Oxford. He's presented himself as an unassuming, hard-working official and gained national attention in 2021 when he was spotted cleaning up the U.S. Capitol after the Jan. 6 insurrection, bagging trash.

Kim, 42, was first elected to Congress by defeating Republican Tom MacArthur, an ally of former president Donald Trump ally. He's now been reelected three times. During the campaign, Kim said he would oppose tax breaks for the wealthy and support abortion rights.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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