OPINION: New Jersey's County Line - An Explanation
Why New Jersey's Unique Way of Primary Ballot Positioning Is Causing A Lot of Commotion.
New Jersey (NJ) politics vastly differs from all the other forty-nine states. NJ is the only state in the Union where County political parties endorse their preferred candidates in the primary to determine ballot positions. NJ politicos refer to this as “the line.”
Whenever I talk to my out-of-staters about the NJ political scene, one of the first topics I bring up is the line. 100% of the time, they have no idea what I am referring to. As we say in NJ, “It’s a Jersey thing.” The line has been in place for over 100 years. Abolishing the line would forever change the political landscape in the Garden State.
The line has received a lot of criticism over the years with opponents of the line calling it “undemocratic” Opposition to the line has become a hot topic in NJ politics as of late. Tammy Murphy, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate and the wife of NJ Governor Phil Murphy has gained significant support from Democrat party leaders in their efforts to dump embattled Senator Bob Menendez for reelection after finding gold bars in his Englewood Cliffs home which was linked to a bribery. The biggest concern is Mrs. Murphy has appeared in official NJ government videos on YouTube and the official government account for Governor Murphy all across social media. This has received intense criticism with many speculating that Murphy is using his influence as Governor to coerce county chairs to support his wife. Congressman Andy Kim, who is in a hotly contested primary battle with Mrs. Murphy for the U.S. Senate has sued to abolish the line altogether.
On March 18th, a federal judge presided over the line lawsuit in Trenton, where dozens of protesters gathered who opposed the line outside the courthouse. This came a day after NJ Attorney General (AG) Matt Platkin said the state views the line as unconstitutional and will not defend the line in court. Meanwhile, Daniel Han, who covers Politico for NJ, posted a statement from Mahan Gunaratna, Communications Director for Governor Murphy in defense of the line, contradicting what AG Platkin said. “Governor Murphy has consistently and accurately noted that the bracketing of candidates is permitted by duly enacted laws that have been on the books for decades,” Gunarata said, “It is well established that Attorneys General have a general obligation to defend the constitutionally of statutes regardless of their own personal views.” This is an interesting development considering Platkin is one of Murphy's top cabinet members and follows the direction of the governor's agenda.
During testimony, Andy Kim spoke before the court recounting the first time he ran for Congress in 2018. “I felt like I had no choice (but) to participate,” Kim said. Every candidate who runs in NJ essentially must seek the line so they can be viewed as a serious candidate. Without the line, their campaign starts to sink.
But wait, that’s not all! This is just the beginning.
On March 16th, Patricia Campos-Medina a third Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate was barred from entering the Camden County Democratic Convention after being invited by a member of the Camden County Democrat County Committee. The video, which at the time of this article's release has amassed over 241K views on X, shows Campos-Medina pleading with the bouncers blocking her way from attending the convention. “I was denied entry to Camden County Dems Convention,” said Campos-Medina on X, “As a Latina woman candidate, I demand fairness. Time to abolish the county line for equal ballot access. Proud to stand for real representation.” The fact a current candidate for office is barred from entering a convention where county committee members plan to vote for her is completely unacceptable and reprehensible.
The ongoing developments regarding abolishing the line is a massive moment in Garden State politics. If the court rules in favor of abolishing the line, the NJ political landscape would massively change. In addition, Tammy Murphy’s campaign will essentially be dead on arrival. It is beyond time for the NJ county line to be abolished. The practice of this line hinders our system by favoring party insiders over what the voters want. Time for NJ to follow the other 49 states and end this undemocratic practice. I will have another piece on this topic very soon. Stay tuned!
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