Three-term Korean American congressman Andy Kim, who won the Senate seat for New Jersey in Tuesday’s election, has pledged to humbly fulfill his role as the first U.S. senator of Korean descent in the 120-year history of Korean immigration.

Celebrating his victory with supporters in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, the Democratic senator-elect said he has become one of 20 million out of 600 million Americans in history to win the honor to serve the country.

The Boston-born son of Korean immigrants said his victory shows that “politics isn’t some exclusive club, just for the well-off and the well-connected.”

Expressing gratitude for his parents, his family and the state of New Jersey, the 42-year-old said he hopes to “bring new meaning to the phrase ‘public service.’”

Recognizing that the divisions in the country are “deep to the bone and will not be fixed with one election,” Kim said “there is a new era of politics rising.”