With more mail-in ballots left to count, it’s still too early to tell what impact the suspension of the party line may have had on Democratic candidates.
Topic
county line
Machine-backed Democrats have big NJ primary wins, even without the ‘line’
“Most political actors and donors are waiting to see how this issue plays out over the next few years before doing anything that may upset the county party organizations,” Sass Rubin said.
NJ Primary Election: Kim declared winner in Senate race, Menendez in House race
With more mail-in ballots left to count, it’s still too early to tell what impact the suspension of the party line may have had on Democratic candidates.
Andy Kim upended New Jersey politics. Now he’s on track to become a senator
Rubin says Kim benefitted from good timing — he was the right candidate at the right political moment. “He definitely had the right framing for people to believe that he is a reformer, and he was willing to take that risk and go up against the system.”
New Jersey holds first primaries since the exile of ‘ballot Siberia’
That design conferred an extreme advantage: Rutgers professor Julia Sass Rubin concluded that between 2002 and 2022, candidates on the county line enjoyed an average boost of 38 points.
A revamped ballot design jumpstarts democracy in New Jersey
“One of the impacts is that more people will get into primaries to run,” said Rubin. “But you’re not seeing that in this cycle because the decision came after the cutoff to file to run this cycle.”
Democratic primary marks new ground for party power
“I think the most immediate impact will be more people will run for office,” Rubin said. “Not this election cycle, because the deadline has already passed. But I think we will see more people running going forward, and I think we will see a much more diverse slate of candidates. You have an overwhelmingly male and white legislature, and I think the county line has a big role in that.”
Rep. Andy Kim’s Senate Bid Aims to Engage New Jersey’s Growing Asian American Voters
Julia Sass Rubin, a Rutgers professor whose research was instrumental in dismantling the party line system, stated, “I think the most immediate impact will be more people will run for office… I think we will see a much more diverse slate of candidates.”
NJ Rep. Pascrell sees primary challenge from Khairullah, spotlighting their stances on Gaza war
The system groups candidates running on tickets into single lines or columns, meaning that the many candidates endorsed by county political organizations appear together with ticket-leaders like President Joe Biden. Candidates running alone or on smaller slates usually appear further off to the right or down the ballot, outside of the large groupings that signal to voters that they’re the legitimate party candidates. Research by Rutgers University professor Julia Sass Rubin shows the preferential ballot placement gives candidates an advantage that is difficult to beat.
N.J.’s senior U.S. senator is on trial for corruption. Again. Will this time be different?
“None of that would have happened without Menendez,” said Julia Sass Rubin, “So I think the indictment was absolutely critical to where we are right now.”
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