First Lady Tammy Murphy gained some momentum last night in her bid to replace indicted U.S.

Senator Bob Menendez, beating her contender, Congressman Andy Kim for the Somerset County line by a 2 to 1 margin.

That's her second county convention win to Kim's five.

But this one was done by a show of hands instead of the standard secret ballot, a process that Kim criticizes, saying it put pressure on delegates to publicly support Murphy even after he says they promised him the votes.

Meanwhile, a Democratic congressional primary is heating up in District nine.

Prospect Park Mayor Mohammed Koirala announced yesterday he'll challenge longtime Congressman Bill Pascrell.

Pascrell has faced growing backlash from Palestinian Americans for refusing to call for a permanent cease fire in Gaza.

Melissa Rose Cooper has more on that race and what it could mean for the ninth District.

While Bill is making decisions from the comfort of his offices in DC and Patterson.

He has lost touch with the people of his district.

Strong words from Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah as he announces he's challenging Congressman Bill Pascrell for his seat in the ninth Congressional District.

The mayor criticized Congressman Pascrell for initially refusing to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and for now only calling for a conditional ceasefire based on the release of hostages and flow of humanitarian aid.

The mayor says it's proof Congressman Pascrell is no longer fit to represent his constituents, many who are Muslim.

In 2003, I sponsored the resolution in Prospect Park against the war on Iraq, and I was attacked on it.

Bill supported the authorization to go to war, which he says he regrets later.

A war that killed over 1 million Iraqis and destabilized the entire region and set it on fire by allowing the Iranian regime to stick its hand in the affairs of neighboring countries.

Now, Bill refuses to call for an immediate cease fire, which could have saved over 30,000 lives.

Anybody who is at this point going to fight for Palestinian liberation and peace for Palestinians and for Palestinian life has has our vote.

Yusra Matari applauds Khairullah's decision to run for Congress.

While she admits her family has joined many others from New Jersey's Palestinian community in supporting Pascrell over the years.

She says her stance on the war has caused them to lose faith.

We say a cease fire yesterday could have prevented the victim of today.

But Khairullah has faced some controversy.

Last year, he was disinvited from a White House event because of his inclusion on an FBI watch list, which she was later removed from.

However, Dina Sayedahmed, communications manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, says he's a prominent leader in the community and calls the watchlist a microcosm of the American Muslim experience.

We see Muslims being added to these sort of watch lists without due process, without even an ability to reasonably or to to really contest their, you know, their their placement on these sort of watch lists, because you're not given a reason why sometimes they're removed secretly and you're also not told why you were removed or why you were added in the first place.

A spokesperson for Congressman Pascrell responding to Khairullah's announcement, saying Congressman Pascrell is eager to run for reelection against any challenger and has brought a record of supporting the American economy, defending women's health, freedom and protecting American democracy.

He has always had a good relationship with the mayor, including being the first in line to demand an explanation from the Secret Service.

When the mayor was banned, entry to the White House.

This is not a fight against the Democratic Party establishment.

We have many friends and allies there.

This is strictly a movement against a member of Congress who abandoned his constituents.

Voters will get to select their choice for the ninth congressional seat when they head to the polls in the June primary for NJ Spotlight News.

I'm Melissa Rose Cooper.