Is NJ's Corrupt Machine System Finally Collapsing?
The candidate of the corrupt New Jersey bosses, the governor’s wife, Tammy, is having a bad week. The New Jersey chapter of the National Organization of Women endorsed Andy Kim in the Senate race this week, just a few days after Tammy said that only a woman can be trusted to protect abortion rights. “I don’t think a man is going to put a priority on abortion,” she said. “That’s going to take a female.” Really? What about her husband? She’s a real mess. From NOW’s press release: “
While NOW-NJ PAC would prefer to endorse women candidates, in this case, NOW-NJ PAC strongly believes that Congressman Andy Kim has demonstrated his commitment to the core issues espoused by NOW and is the best Senatorial candidate. Andy has worked tirelessly for pay equity and reproductive rights, as well as for affordable and equitable health care. Andy has also focused on the issues of climate change, the opioid epidemic, and supports legislation to restore the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. Through Andy’s ability to work within the Congress to get things done and his dedication to the people of our state, and indeed, to this country, he has earned this recommendation for endorsement: Andy has also focused on the issues of climate change, the opioid epidemic, and supports legislation to restore the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. Seeing Andy cleaning the floor of the Capitol after the January 6th insurrection, sends a message of humility and caring to us all. Significantly, NOW National PAC has endorsed Andy three times before in his Congressional campaigns. Of special note, Andy will make Senate history as the first Korean American Senator. Andy’s vision for our country brings us hope and is based on concrete plans for a better tomorrow for girls and women.
Tough for a woman candidate to lose the NOW endorsement to a male candidate. And… yesterday Andy Kim won the state’s first Democratic convention in the Senate primary— and in her home county no less.
Daniel Han reported that “Murphy has been presumed the frontrunner because of her high-profile status as the first lady, her massive fundraising capabilities and, most importantly, the early support she’s received from county party leaders in the state’s most Democratic-rich areas. But she failed to lock up support in Monmouth County, located along the Jersey Shore. Kim won the contest in a blowout, winning 56.8 percent of the vote. Murphy won 38.8 percent while another candidate, progressive labor activist Patricia Campos-Medina, won 4.2 percent. There were 466 votes cast.”
The victory has both practical and symbolic purposes. It shows that Kim’s candidacy has momentum and that he can foster support from rank-and-file Democrats, which will be critical to counter Murphy’s institutional support from Democratic party leaders across the state. While on the stump before the convention vote, Kim received raucous applause compared to tepid cheers for Murphy.
It also means that Kim will get the so-called county line in Monmouth— a unique feature of New Jersey’s primary ballot. Nearly the entire state— save for two counties— use the so-called party line system, where party-endorsed candidates appear on the ballot together in a single column, making them appear more legitimate to voters. Other candidates could theoretically form their own rival “line” of candidates on the ballot, although that seldom happens. Kim winning the convention means that he will appear with other party-endorsed candidates down the ballot.
Each county in the state differs in how their county party awards the line, although in some parts of the state the support of a single party leader is all that’s needed. Others, like Monmouth, host conventions where local party officials are able to vote on who they want to endorse.
Murphy already has the so-called line locked up in some of the most Democrat-heavy counties in the central and northern parts of the state thanks to the help of influential party leaders— several of whom have financial interest with Gov. Phil Murphy in office.
Speaking of which… WNYC published a brief, scathing report on the corruption inherent in the boss system, noting that the endorsements from the party machines “would give her preferred placement on primary ballots in the bluest parts of the state, but some members of those same organizations say the process shows New Jersey’s primary elections are deeply undemocratic. In several of the state’s largest party organizations, the endorsement choice is made by county party bosses— either without any vote, or with only an advisory vote from the hundreds of community leaders meant to guide the party, according to interviews with more than a dozen people involved in the process.”
And a little very good news from the Garden State. Brent Johnson reported that “Two of the three Democratic candidates who had been running for the U.S. House seat held by Republican Tom Kean Jr.— former U.S. State Department official Jason Blazakis and Summit Council President Greg Vartan— announced in recent weeks they have ended their campaigns in the Garden State’s battleground 7th district. This means Sue Altman, the longtime leader of progressive advocacy group New Jersey Working Families Alliance, is the only Democrat left in the race and thus the party’s presumptive nominee to run against Kean in November’s general election.”
The showdown will pit Altman, long one of the most vocal progressive advocates in New Jersey politics, against Kean, who is seeking a second term two years after he flipped the competitive, purple district from blue to red. Democrats are trying to flip the district back and see the race as critical to regaining control of the House, the lower chamber of Congress.
In a statement this week, Altman said she is “thrilled that New Jersey Democrats— from labor to local leaders to grassroots volunteers— are uniting behind our campaign to take back the 7th Congressional District from a guy who is not doing his job.”
“He is an empty suit, enabling a radical agenda that hurts many of us,” added Altman, a former teacher who has never held elected office. “He does not hold town halls, he is invisible, he isn’t working hard. This district is our home, and we deserve better representation.”
Vartan endorsed Altman as he dropped out last month and announced he will work as an adviser on Altman’s campaign, saying “we need someone who understands the values and priorities of the district, can fight for them and has the resources to win.”
Blazakis exited the race Monday without making an endorsement but stressed Kean has enabled “extremism” and voters must “push back against it.”
Kean is a pretend-moderate who never misses an opportunity to kiss Trump’s ass and back the full-bore MAGA agenda, an agenda that doesn’t fit the 7th district, the state’s only swing district. And, by the way, in 2020 Biden beat Trump in the district by 4 points.
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