Things were definitely looking up from a reform perspective in New Jersey politics. Senator Menendez finally got his just reward after decades of unethical behavior and the failure of Democrats to self-police; Andy Kim, a breath of fresh air, replaced Menendez; and George Norcross, the long-time South Jersey powerbroker, under duress stepped away from the fray and the state’s “county line” ballot, which party organization’s used to stifle primary competition, was jettisoned.
The expectation was that with the powerful “county line” ballot system eliminated, party endorsements would carry less weight and voters would have more influence in the June 10, 2025 primary election. Professor Julia Sass Rubin, the acknowledged guru on the effects of the party line on New Jersey politics, thought the elimination of the county line would reduce the influence of party leaders and politics in New Jersey.
In an April 9, 2024 interview with Rutgers Today she said: “The end of the county line will be an earthquake for New Jersey politics and policy. For most of the last 100+ years, our politics and policy have largely been controlled by political machines and the county line primary ballot has been their most powerful tool for staying in power. Although the machines will still have access to financial resources and some aspects of the patronage system, the end of the county line will greatly diminish their ability to control who is elected. That should enable new voices to enter the political space and bolster the willingness of elected officials to do what their voters want rather than what the political machines demand.”
The primary results for Governor seem to suggest that Professor Rubin may have been overly optimistic regarding the effect of eliminating the party line as a prominent column on primary ballots. Yes, there were lots of candidates and a dramatic increase in voter turnout to 1.3 million voters, but in the end the candidates that emerged as the clear winners were Mikie Sherrill and Jack Cittarelli, the candidates with by far the most county organizational endorsements…