TRENTON, New Jersey – New Jersey Democrats and Republicans decide their party’s standard bearers for the Senate on Tuesday amid the federal corruption trial in New York, incumbent New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, along with presidential and House candidates.
Menendez, a longtime Democrat, filed suit Monday to run as an independent. He is not on the primary ballot. Instead, Democratic voters are deciding between Rep. Andy Kim, labor leader Patricia Campos-Medina and longtime grassroots organizer Lawrence Hamm.
On the GOP side, it’s a four-way race, but southern New Jersey hotel developer Curtis Bashaw has gotten significant support from the county party, and Mendham Township Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner has gotten the endorsement of the Republican Party. former President Donald Trump.
Although New Jersey has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972, the stakes are high in the divided Senate where Democrats hold a narrow majority. The Republican Party sees Menéndez’s independent run as a potential hurdle that could boost his chances in the fall.
Menéndez, his wife and two business associates have pleaded not guilty to federal charges that the senator traded the promise of official acts for gold bars, cash, a luxury vehicle and a mortgage payment. A third business partner pleaded guilty and agreed to testify in the case for prosecutors.
President Joe Biden and Trump are also on the ballot, both already being their parties’ presumptive nominees.
The Democratic Socialists of America are also supporting a protest vote by national convention delegates against Biden over his handling of the violence. in Gaza. Democrats in delegate districts across the state will have the opportunity to vote “uncommitted” in the delegate ballot.
Jessica Dunlap, a spokeswoman for the effort in New Jersey, said the goal is to send a message to Biden about his policies toward those living in Gaza. Appearing as “not committed” on the ballot will be the slogan: “Justice for Palestine, permanent ceasefire now.”
A similar effort in Michigan this year yielded the group with two delegates, compared to Biden’s 115 in that state.
New this year for Democrats will be the end of the so-called county line, voting system in which those with party support were grouped together and those without support were often listed in what became known as the “Siberian vote.”
The end of the practice stems from a lawsuit Kim and other Democratic candidates filed in federal court, alleging the system unfairly placed a thumb on the scale for those with partisan ties. A federal judge suspended the system only in this year’s Democratic primaries, as no Republicans joined the process.
In practice, the change means that candidates for positions will be grouped together, as is done in all other states.
But that doesn’t hold true for Republicans — whose district parties that still support candidates have maintained the system. State legislative leaders have said they would address the election issue, but so far they have not passed any legislation that would change how the state conducts primaries.
Voters will also choose candidates for the House. Among the most monitored districts are those that have some connection to Menéndez’s current circumstances. In the 3rd District, which Kim represents and is leaving to run for the Senate seat, Democratic Assembly colleagues Herb Conaway and Carol Murphy are vying to go to Washington. In northern New Jersey’s 8th District, incumbent Democratic Rep. Rob Menendez — the senator’s son — is seeking re-election against Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, who has tried to link Rob Menendez to his father.
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