TRENTON, NJ (AP) — New Jersey Democrats and Republicans will choose their parties’ Senate candidates Tuesday amid the ongoing federal corruption trial in New York of incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and candidates for president and the House of Representatives.
Menendez, a longtime Democrat, filed to run as an independent on Monday. He is not on the primary ballot. Instead, Democratic voters will choose between Rep. Andy Kim, labor leader Patricia Campos-Medina and longtime grassroots activist Lawrence Hamm.
On the Republican side, it’s a four-way race, but southern New Jersey hotel developer Curtis Bashaw has received significant county party support, and Mendham County Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner has secured the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
Although New Jersey hasn’t elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972, the stakes are high in a divided Senate where Democrats hold a slim majority. Republicans view Menendez’s independent candidacy as a potential opportunity to boost their chances this fall.
Menendez, his wife and two business associates have pleaded not guilty to federal charges that the senator traded promises of official acts for gold bars, cash, a luxury car and a mortgage payment. A third business associate has pleaded guilty and agreed to testify before prosecutors in the case.
Presidents Joe Biden and Trump are also on the ballot; both are already the likely candidates of their parties.
The Democratic Socialists of America also supports a protest vote by delegates to the National Convention against Biden over his handling of the violence in Gaza. Democrats in delegate districts across the state have the option to vote “undecided” on the delegate ballot.
Jessica Dunlap, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey initiative, said the goal is to send a message to Biden about his policies toward the people of Gaza. Under “undecided” on the ballot, the slogan will appear: “Justice for Palestine, permanent ceasefire now.”
A similar push in Michigan earned the group two delegates this year, compared to Biden’s 115 in that state.
New for Democrats this year will be the end of the so-called county line, an electoral system in which those who had the support of their party were grouped together, while those without that support were often listed on the so-called “Election Siberia” list.
The end of the practice stems from a lawsuit filed in federal court by Kim and other Democratic candidates, who claimed the system unfairly discriminated against people with party ties. A federal judge suspended the system only for this year’s Democratic primary because no Republican joined the lawsuit.
In practice, the change means that candidates for political office will be grouped together, as is the case in all other states.
But that’s not the case for Republicans, whose county parties that still support candidates have kept the system in place. State lawmakers have said they would take up the ballot question, but have so far passed no legislation changing how primaries are conducted in the state.
Voters will also choose candidates for the House of Representatives. Among the most closely watched districts are those with a connection to Menendez’s current situation. In the 3rd District, which Kim represents and is leaving to run for a Senate seat, fellow Democratic Reps. Herb Conaway and Carol Murphy are vying for a seat in Washington. In the 8th District in northern New Jersey, incumbent Democratic Rep. Rob Menendez – the senator’s son – is running for re-election against Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, who has tried to link Rob Menendez to his father.
