Today is filing day in New Jersey, with the deadline for candidates for U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, and county and municipal offices at 4 PM to get on the ballot in the June 4 Democratic and Republican primaries.
The New Jersey Globe will host a livestream tonight at 8 PM to discuss the status of Senate and House races. This writer will be joined by Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University, and New Jersey Globe Washington reporter Joey Fox.
Senate and House petitions must be filed in Trenton. Candidates for President and Senate need 1,000 signatures; congressional candidates need 200.
Candidates for county office can obtain petitions from their county clerk. Filings are done at the county clerk’s office.
Candidates for local office, including county committee, must get their petitions from their municipal clerk. Be sure to get clarity on the number of signatures needed to get on the ballot, as this varies. Petitions should be filed with the municipal clerk.
There are always a bunch of lower-tier candidates who enter the race via press release or a social media announcement – sometimes it’s even less, like a letter of intent sent to a county chair asking to appear before their convention – and never actually file.
Two major U.S. Senate candidates, Democrat Tammy Murphy and Republican Alex Zdan, are already out of the race. Murphy will need to take legal steps to withdraw her petition, and Zdan is not filing today.
Challenges to petitions must be filed within three days. Candidates have until 4 PM on Thursday to repair technical deficiencies to their petitions, including changes to ballot slogans, but they may not add additional signatures.
Administrative Law Judges hear petition challenges for the Senate and House. Those court hearings are scheduled almost immediately – usually within one day – and judges typically render an immediate verbal ruling. It is perhaps the most efficient system in the state judiciary regarding election matters.
But a challenge to petitions for county and municipal office, including county committee, goes to the Superior Court. Unless the matter is in Atlantic County, where Judge Michael Blee handles election matters at warp speed, this process could take weeks. In 2022, Appellate Court Judge Hany Mawla punted a petition challenge in a Howell council primary that should have been resolved in April until September. He then covered his tuchus in an odd written decision.
Still unresolved is a lawsuit to abolish organization lines for the June 4 primary election. One week ago, U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi heard arguments on an injunction to ban the line this year. He could still do that, but by waiting until the filing deadline has passed, he may have disenfranchised hundreds of potential candidates for local office who might have run if they knew there would be no line.