Ballot challenges aren’t anything unusual this time of year, Save Jerseyans, but an unfolding legal drama in Passaic County is more than a little ironic.
According to The New Jersey Globe, Democrats planned Tuesday to appeal a Superior Court decision permitting Republicans to select a new county sheriff candidate. The original Passaic party choice ran afoul of an obscure New Jersey rule requiring sheriff candidates to reside inside the county for three years to qualify for the ballot.
Democrats unsuccessfully argued in court for strict adherence to the law.
It was never an obstacle for them before now.
Nearly twenty years ago (September 30, 2002), U.S. Senator Robert “The Torch” Torricelli dropped his re-election campaign due to an ethics scandal. The N.J. Supreme Court bailed out the Democrat Party by permitting them to replace Torricelli on the ballot with former Senator Frank Lautenberg. The Laut infamously went on to defeat Republican nominee Doug Forrester by 10-points in November.
There are key differences between the races, but most of those differences cut in the GOP’s favor. Here, the Republicans are trying to replace a primary candidate six months from a general election. Without a new name, the primary would be uncontested. The ballots reportedly haven’t been printed yet.
Back in 2002, the state was only a month away from a general. There’s also arguably a qualitative difference between a candidate being disqualifed as opposed to voluntary dropping out due to accusations of corruption.
Sometimes it’s a curse to have a long memory!
