As a resident of New Jersey, I have been treated to a good seat to view the run up to the upcoming election. I write not of the Presidential contest, which until yesterday looked like it was going to be a rematch of 2020 that few wanted but we didn’t seem able to avoid,1 but of the New Jersey Senate race.
Democratic incumbent Robert Menendez, our senior senator, has served since he was appointed by Governor Corzine to fill the vacancy created by Corzine’s election as governor. Menendez was the subject of a recall attempt2 and much later a corruption trial that resulted in a hung jury. Although he politically survived both events, his second indictment, last September, accompanied by tales of gold bars and jacket pockets stuffed with cash, led to his recent conviction (nobody survives gold bars) on all sixteen charges and intensified calls for his resignation or expulsion from the Senate.
Immediately following the indictment, Representative Andy Kim said that he would run for the seat in the Democratic primary. Kim’s most prominent announced opponent, N.J. First Lady Tammy Murphy, also sought the seat and had the advantage of her husband, the governor’s, party influence. This influence was potentially decisive as New Jersey primaries feature what is known as “the party line” which allows the county party to group favored candidates together, consigning others to “ballot Siberia.”3
Kim promptly filed a federal lawsuit challenging the county line (a similar lawsuit had been pending for a while) and sought a preliminary injunction to prohibit the use of the county line in the 2024 Democratic4 primary and replace it with the office block style ballot used everywhere else.
A number of legislative leaders promised to address the matter (eventually) in an effort to keep the judge from entering the injunction. County party leaders were apoplectic about the threat to their influence. Ultimately, after the damage was done, Tammy Murphy did not pursue the nomination.
Although Menendez did not file a petition to run in the Democratic primary, he did qualify to run as an independent, and his presence on the ballot just might siphon enough votes away from Kim to allow the Republican5 candidate a chance to be the first Republican elected to the Senate from New Jersey since 1972.
While Menedez’s conviction does not disqualify him from the Senate, it promptly led to many Democrats calling for him to resign or be expelled. If either event happens, Governor Murphy would have the power to appoint a replacement who would serve for the balance of the term (unless Murphy also calls a special election). Kim would seem to be the logical choice for the Democratic governor, but remaining sour grapes might lead Murphy to appoint someone else, even his wife, as a caretaker.
Jay Bohn
July 22, 2024
- Actually, as I was writing this post. the growing chorus of Democratic elites are desperately trying to dump the candidate who won their primaries, incumbent Joseph Biden, succeeded and replace him with . . . (well, that’s not the important bit). ↩︎
- Then lieutenant governor/secretary of state Kim Guadagno correctly determined that Ney Jersey’s state laws on the procedure could not authorize the recall of a federal officeholder. ↩︎