Many pundits are explaining away Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno’s victory in the NJ GOP gubernatorial primary to the power of “the line” — the party organization’s column on the ballot, particularly in Monmouth and Ocean Counties where Guadagno earned 20,106 of her 37,712 vote margin of victory.
InsiderNJ pointed out this morning that Guadagno had the line in counties accounting for 46.4% of the average GOP vote share. She won 46.8% of the vote. Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli had the line in counties with 31.2% of the vote. He earned 31.1% of the vote.
The implication is that a candidate is endorsed by a county political party is a shoe-in. Primary voters will magically show up on election day and vote down the line.
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