David Cruz:

First-term Congressman Andy Kim sets a genteel tone at a recent town hall meeting. In New Jersey, where even a discussion of the weather can turn into a heated debate, that is no small feat.

Kim is one of more than 40 Democrats elected to seats formerly held by Republicans in the most recent midterm. He is a moderate Democrat in a district that has been anything but safe for either party.

The Third Congressional District stretches across the southern portion of New Jersey from the Atlantic Ocean on the east to the Pennsylvania border on the west. It includes large portions of mostly Democratic Burlington County and largely Republican Ocean County.

In the last five presidential elections, voters in this district have gone for Al Gore, George W. Bush, Barack Obama twice and most recently Donald Trump. Its last four representatives to the House have been a Democrat, followed by two Republicans, and now a Democrat.

It is that kind of political split personality that can give a first-term congressman fits.