It appears that two of the five independent candidates for governor will be tossed from the ballot for failing to gather the minimum 2,000 signatures needed to get on the ballot.
Monica Brinson and David Douglas Brown each filed barely enough signatures to survive a challenge from Timothy Walsh, the vice chairman of the New Jersey Young
Monica Brinson filed with 2,022 signatures.
Walsh also argued that Brinson’s independent candidacy would violate New Jersey’s Sore Loser Law since she had sought the Republican gubernatorial nomination earlier this year. She acknowledged that she competed for party support in her home county, Bergen, where she received twelve votes at the GOP convention.
“There was no place in the Republican race for a Black woman,” Brinson told Administrative Law Judge Joseph Ascione.
Brinson announced that she would remain in the race as a write-in candidate.
“I am going to continue to fight,” Brinson said. “I’m not going away. Do you know what I mean? Even though I may not be able to participate on the ballot, people are free to write me in, so I’m not going anywhere. And I’m going to continue to disrupt the corrupt.”
Brinson was a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.
Administrative Law Judge Kathleen Calemmo tossed 42 of Brown’s signatures, leaving him at 1,974.
Stephen Zielinski, Sr. of the Green Party, Vic Kaplan of the Libertarian Party, and Joanne Kuniansky of the Socialist Workers Party will be on the November general election ballot, along with Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli.
Under a new law approved earlier this year, the signature requirement was increased from 800 to 2,000.
Two independent Assembly candidates are also expected to be removed from the ballot for not getting enough signatures: Orun Snow of the Green Party in the 6th legislative district and Dustin Maggard of the Libertarian Party in the 8th district.
Former Asbury Park school board member Felicia Simmons in the 11th district might also lose her place on the ballot.
Simmons challenged the rejection of 460 signatures by the Division of Elections because she used a primary election petition instead of one for independents running in a general election. That part of the petition showed that she was seeking the Democratic nomination.
“Because it was a legal document, I wrote Democrat because I am a registered Democrat,” Simmons said. “It was an old form.”
“New Jersey courts have long upheld the principle that election laws must be liberally construed in favor of allowing ballot access and protecting voter choice,” Simmons said. “Courts have consistently ruled that minor or technical errors, especially those that do not confuse or mislead signers, cannot be the basis for disenfranchising voters or candidates.”
Simmons lost her re-election bid for a school board seat in 2017 after being charged with voter fraud connected to her work on a 2015 Elizabeth Board of Education campaign. The charges were later dismissed. She also lost municipal elections in Asbury Park in 2018, 2020 and 2022.
Administrative Law Judge Dean Buono will make his decision on Simmons tomorrow.
The final decision rests with Secretary of State Tahesha Way.
The 8th and 11th districts are competitive in the general election.
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February 12, 2025 -
