A long-simmering fight over New Jersey’s unique primary ballot design reached a federal courtroom Monday in a case that has the potential to upend not only the state’s tense U.S. Senate race but Garden State politics in general.
Topic
New Jersey
Judge scraps controversial ‘county line’ on primary election ballot
Rutgers University professor Julia Sass Rubin, who has analyzed the impact of the county line in elections, published a study last year that detailed the advantage it gives to candidates who have the line.
How Andy Kim Took on New Jersey’s Political Machine
New Jersey is the only state in the nation with this type of bracketed ballot design. According to Julia Sass Rubin, a public-policy professor at Rutgers, a candidate who gets the line enjoys a double-digit advantage over the competition
NJSPL – NJ Progress with Offshore Wind Projects
Offshore wind has the potential to contribute to the state’s decarbonization goals while generating approximately 20,000 new jobs for the state by 2030, but exactly how these economic benefits will be distributed remains to be seen
Proposed overhaul of NJ public records law
“You can’t really run a government if every draft document that you have of exploring ideas is subject to public disclosure, because it doesn’t represent a final government action,” Pfeiffer said. “You really can’t do business in a full transparent mode.”
Morning Digest: Tammy Murphy, New Jersey’s first lady, drops Senate bid
This system allows parties to give preferential ballot placement to their preferred candidates, putting endorsees in a prominent location while relegating others to less visible spots known as “ballot Siberia.” That design confers 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.
Kim’s Stunning Senate Run Poised to Further Disrupt NJ Politics
“It’s really difficult for state legislators to have any independence. If they don’t vote the way these folks want them to, they lose the Line, and then they lose their election,” Rubin said.
Kim’s campaign, and his push against the Line, had elevated the primary race from a typical political contest to a symbolic fight over the state’s murky political ethics.
The bullies in Camden, and the rot in the Democratic Party | Moran
Besides, she says, the notion that a small cabal of party elites gets to make this decision is offensive, even if they make good choices. “I don’t want a benevolent dictator telling me who the right candidates are for me,” Sass Rubin says.
NJ lost 34,000 jobs in the past year. Are there choppy waters ahead?
Those higher-paying sectors — white-collar jobs — became saturated after having a “hard time filling their open positions” coming out of the pandemic, Hughes said. “They’re filled now and they’re holding on to the people they have, but they’re not adding new people,” he said.
How Donald Trump, Joe Biden and grassroots liberals could upend Democratic politics in one of the country’s bluest states
“The Tammy Murphy-Andy Kim race has put (the issue) on steroids. It has really amplified general public awareness, which was building. But it was building among the aware, kind of progressive grassroots,” Rubin said. “This brought it into the mainstream in a big way.”
Upcoming Events
Bloustein Honors Research Program Oral Thesis Defense
Bloustein School, Civic Square Building 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, United StatesThe members of the 2023-24 Bloustein Honors Research Program cohort will be presenting their individual research projects in two formats.
Rutgers University–New Brunswick and Rutgers Health Commencement 2024
SHI StadiumJoin us for the 258th Anniversary Commencement at Rutgers University–New Brunswick and Rutgers Health on Sunday, May 12, 2024, at SHI Stadium, starting at 10 a.m. President Jonathan Holloway will preside over […]
Bloustein School Convocation
Jersey Mike's Arena 83 Rockefeller Road, Piscataway, NJ, United StatesThe formal BLOUSTEIN SCHOOL CONVOCATION ceremony will recognize each graduate individually with pomp and circumstance. Students will cross the stage and have their names read as they are recognized. Seating is general […]
Implications of Robotics for Public Policy
VirtualThis presentation offers a systematic analysis of the emerging routes by which applications of embodied artificial intelligence—robotics—elicit public policy responses.
2024 Transit-Oriented Development Symposium
Bloustein School, Civic Square Building 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, United StatesRegistration is now open for the 2024 TOD Symposium. This free full-day event will be held in person on Thursday, May 16, 2024 at the Edward J. Bloustein School of […]