U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi’s decision to grant a preliminary injunction that mandates office block voting and not organization lines in the June 2024 primary election will affect races from top to bottom of the ballot – but with some irony, not as much for Rep. Andy Kim, who filed the lawsuit.
Kim, a three-term congressman seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, became the prohibitive favorite after his main rival, Tammy Murphy, withdrew from the race last Sunday. He won most of the county conventions on his own but had become the organization candidate everywhere but Camden, which Kim was offered but turned down, and Cumberland, where the local Democratic organization is currently in shambles.
The Republican U.S. Senate primary has now been turned upside-down, with Curtis Bashaw losing the lines that had given him organization support in counties where about 61% of the state’s registered Republicans live. Quraishi’s decision makes it a brand-new race for Mendham Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner, a pro-Trump Republican.
The open seat contest to replace Kim in the House starts anew, with the court decision eliminating an advantage for Assemblyman Herb Conaway, Jr. (D-Delran); Conaway had won conventions in Burlington, Monmouth, and Mercer counties. He’ll face Assembly Majority Whip Carol Murphy (D-Mount Laurel) and three others: civil rights attorney Joe Cohn, businesswoman Sarah Schoengood, and teacher Brian Schkeeper. Schoengood was one of Kim’s co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The ruling will also significantly impact the 8th district, where Rep. Robert J. Menendez (D-Jersey City) faces Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla. Menendez’s lines in Hudson, Essex, and Union counties are gone.
Passaic County Democrats might be underdogs without the line. Former Sheriff Jerry Speziale, who had mounted an off-the-line race to reclaim his old job, might have an advantage against a lesser-known organization candidate, Thomas Adamo. Moreover, Speziale has three running mates for county commissioner, something that could threaten Democratic County Chairman John Currie’s control of county government; still, incumbents John Bartlett and Sandi Lazzara have their own independent relationships with voters.
There’s also a reset in the 2nd district race, where Democrats must nominate an opponent for Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis). Tim Alexander has the line in Atlantic County, but rival Joe Salerno is expected to have more money. A third candidate, Carolyn Rush, was the third plaintiff in the lawsuit that ended the lines, but with just 220 signatures on her petition, she has a narrow 21-signature cushion and might face a challenge to get her off the ballot.