Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Progressives want every Senate candidate from NJ to back a change to state's ballot designs
By
Nancy Solomon
Published Dec 12, 2023
Modified Dec 13, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Photo by Ira L. Black - Corbis/Getty Images
By
Nancy Solomon
Published Dec 12, 2023
Modified Dec 13, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy’s entrance into the primary race for a U.S. Senate seat is mobilizing progressive activists to make the ballot a campaign issue in the 2024 race.
A new statewide alliance of progressive organizations is asking all candidates in the Senate race to take a stand against the way primary ballots are laid out in 19 of New Jersey’s 21 counties because, they said, it gives an unfair advantage to those endorsed by the county party organizations.
The new umbrella group, Fair Ballot Alliance NJ, is asking the Senate candidates to call for ballots that are like those used by all other states in the country — where the candidates for a particular office are listed together.
In New Jersey, all the candidates endorsed by a county party organization are grouped in one row or column known as “the county line,” from the candidate for president on down to to local offices. In a few counties, those endorsements are decided through conventions; in most, they’re handed out by party bosses.
In the days immediately after Murphy announced her candidacy, the party chairmen of the counties with the largest number of registered Democrats declared their endorsements of her. Those counties, with their large number of voters, provide a path to victory in a statewide race. And for most Democrats, a primary win would lead directly to a general election victory; the state hasn’t elected a Republican to the Senate in more than 50 years
“This is before any conventions have been undertaken,” Uyen Khuong, executive director of Action Together New Jersey said. “Yet these six county chairs have come out and endorsed her within four days of her announcement.”
Fair Ballot Alliance says it does not object to endorsements and other party support for candidates, but it considers the county line a form of electioneering.
“The place for that is not on the ballot. It's in a lot of other promotion materials and election materials, but not on the ballot,” Yael Niv, a member of the alliance and the Good Government Coalition of New Jersey, said. “That is basically campaigning inside the ballot booth, which is not allowed.”
Research by Julia Sass Rubin of the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University shows that placement on the county line gives candidates an average of 38% more votes than their competitors, and no state legislative incumbent has lost a primary since 2009 when they’ve been put on the county line.
In 2021, New Jersey Working Families Alliance filed a federal lawsuit against the county line that is still making its way through the court system. Tuesday’s announcement takes the issue directly to one of the biggest races in New Jersey politics, the U.S. Senate race.
The seat up in 2024 is currently held by incumbent Sen. Bob Menendez, who has been indicted and accused of bribery, corruption and serving as an agent of the Egyptian government. He has lost the support of the Democratic party organizations, which means he will not be listed on the county line. Menendez has said he won’t step down from office, but hasn’t said yet if he’ll run again in 2024.
In addition to Murphy and potentially Menendez, U.S. Rep. Andy Kim is also running in the Democratic primary for the seat.
Kim has spoken out against the county line, but he previously said he would seek it if that’s the system in place when he is running.
“This is and should be a process where the people of New Jersey get to choose,” Kim told Gothamist earlier this month. “And I think that there's been a backlash because there's a real feeling that the party leaders are putting their thumb on the scale.”
Murphy is less critical of the process.
"Congressman Kim has said he will use every tool at his disposal to win this election, and that includes his actively seeking the county lines in this primary,” Alexandra Altman, a spokeswoman for Murphy, said in a written statement Tuesday. “The only difference is that Tammy has been thrilled to earn that support from Democratic party leaders.”
Menendez and Kim have not responded to requests for comment Tuesday.
This story has been updated to reflect comments from Andy Kim and to correctly attribute a statement to Alexandra Altman, a spokesperson for Tammy Murphy.
Tagged
new jersey
Politics
Nancy Solomon
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .