Saying there is a “crisis of credibility” in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary, candidates Andy Kim, Patricia Campos-Medina, and Lawrence Hamm today sent a letter to the state’s county clerks in New Jersey asking them to eliminate the advantages of organization lines in key elections and instead use an office block ballot design in the June 4 primary election.
Block ballots are used in Salem and Sussex County and set apart candidates by the offices they are seeking.
“Party organizations will still be able to list the slogans of candidates, but the credibility of this primary necessitates your action to ensure that the election is seen as fair for all candidates – and for all voters – with a ballot that does not give any single candidate a state-conferred advantage by design,” said the letter signed by Kim, Campos-Medina, and Hamm.
The three Senate candidates allege that there are the system needs to be changed because “improper and unfair practices will continue to be taken within our party.”
“Public news stories have detailed coordination between First Lady Tammy Murphy’s campaign and the state Democratic Party, potential conflicts of interest, intimidation tactics, threats, public attacks, and questions about the use of state party resources,” Kim, Camos-Medina, and Hamm said. “Calls for an investigation have gone unanswered, even against the backdrop of serious concerns over broader conflicts of interest given the dynamics of this particular cycle and the role of the Governor’s Office.”
Murphy, the wife of Gov. Phil Murphy, has secured endorsements from county chairmen in the state’s top vote-producing counties: Essex, Middlesex, Bergen, Camden, and Hudson.
Murphy was not invited to sign the letter.
“As Democrats, we cannot accept a ballot system that is inconsistent with our values and directly contradicts our fight to protect and promote democracy and voting rights,” Kim said. “It does not have to be this way. Our County Clerks and our County Democratic Party Chairs have it in their power to call for and provide an office block ballot for the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. We have a chance to show the people of New Jersey and the country that we’re better than the corruption we’ve seen from Senator Menendez; rejecting this ballot system would be an important step.”
State election law gives county clerks some discretion over ballot design in their counties, but there are also statutory requirements that are not in their control.
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But to Kim, Campos-Medina and Hamm, that is causing a “crisis of credibility right now in this Democratic Senate primary.
“At a time when President Biden is running on a platform to protect our democracy, we cannot be seen as taking steps here in New Jersey that are viewed as undemocratic, or worse still, pressure the President to do so,” the three candidates said. “Otherwise we will severely damage our ability to attract voters, especially unaffiliated and young voters who are weary after the Senator’s indictment.”
Campos-Medina said she has called for eliminating lines for years because it excludes Latinas and women of color from seeking public office.
“This exclusion is a clear and present danger to our Democracy,” she said. “I have already experienced the discriminatory nature of this process during this campaign by being excluded from some counties’ forums and debates.”
Still, the system has led to New Jersey having a Hispanic U.S. Senator for more than eighteen years, a Black U.S. Senator for eleven years, and a Latina majority leader of the New Jersey State Senate.
The Murphy campaign accused Kim of trying to play both sides in the organization line game.
“All of the candidates in this race are actively seeking county lines and party support in this campaign by participating in screenings, forums, and earning votes at conventions. Congressman Kim has also happily ran on county lines with party support in every single election he’s ever run in,” said Alex Altman, Murphy’s communications director. “Congressman Kim seems to be of the opinion that when he receives a county line it’s OK, but when someone else does, it’s not. It’s yet another example of him and his campaign talking to voters out of both sides of their mouth.”
2023-Primary-Sample-Ballots-Frankford-GOP Morris Sample 3_Large SampleThis story was updated at 12:59 PM with comment from Altman.