The party of “democracy” continues to be anything but, Save Jerseyans.
Green Party candidate Lily Benavides was compelled to end her gubernatorial bid this week due to a successful Democrat challenge to her nominating petitions. The minimum number of petitions required to run for governor is 2,000. Benavides dipped to 1,998 during a hearing before Administrative Law Judge Tama Hughes following the rejection of 446 ballots.
Petition challenges are obviously nothing new, but Democrats have ramped up their efforts to deny ballot access to opponents in recent cycles despite clinging to a less-than-sincere “pro-democracy” messaging strategy in the era of Donald Trump. Most infamously, the party launched a failed bid to deny President Trump ballot access in 2024 across multiple states.
Could the absence of a Green Party candidate on the ballot impact the race between Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli? Possibly, if it’s close.
The Green Party candidate fetched 8,450 votes statewide in 2021 and 10,053 in 2017. Ciattarelli only fell short by 84,000 votes in 2021, so every vote could count come November.
