New Jersey’s political boss culture dates back more than 100 years. It was able to outlast the good government reforms of the early 20th century. While the current moment feels hopeful, political machines do not give up power easily.
Topic
New Jersey
Politics in New Jersey has gone off the rails — even by New Jersey standards
“You could not envision a day when Norcross wasn’t running the state essentially,” Julia Sass Rubin, a Rutgers University professor who studies New Jersey government, said of that period. “That he’s now under indictment, it’s stunning.”
Heldrich Report: NJ’s Energy-Efficiency Workforce Needs
The Heldrich Center, in partnership with the Built Environment and Green Building Group at the Center for Urban Policy Research, recently conducted a study to better understand and document community needs and areas for growth in training, recruiting, hiring, and retaining students, trainees, and workers from diverse backgrounds for the state’s energy-efficiency workforce.
NJSPL – Key Insights from Early Offshore Wind Implementation
Beyond financial constraints, offshore wind has a history of public opposition in the United States.
Primary results suggest absence of ‘party line’ made a difference
“It’s early as the votes are still being counted but it certainly looks like not having a county line shakes things up, especially in the less high-profile races where the county line matters the most,” said Julia Sass Rubin
NJ primary election night results 2024 | NJ Decides
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.
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.
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