Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 23
New Jersey Democrats and Republicans decide their parties’ standard-bearers Tuesday for the Senate amid the federal corruption trial in New York of New Jersey Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Menendez, along with candidates for the presidency and House.
Menendez, a longtime Democrat, filed on Monday to run as an independent. He’s not on the primary ballot. Instead, Democratic voters are deciding between Rep. Andy Kim, labor leader Patricia Campos-Medina and longtime grassroots organizer Lawrence Hamm.
On the GOP side, it’s a four-way contest but southern New Jersey hotel developer Curtis Bashaw has gotten significant county party backing, and Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner won former President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
While New Jersey hasn’t elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972, the stakes are high in the divided Senate where Democrats have a narrow majority. The GOP is looking at Menendez’s independent run as a potential wedge that could boost their chances in the fall.
Menendez, his wife, and two business associates have pleaded not guilty to federal charges that the senator traded the promise of official acts for gold bars, cash, a luxury vehicle and a mortgage payment. A third business associate has pleaded guilty and agreed to testify in the case for prosecutors.
President Joe Biden and Trump are on the ballot as well, both already their parties’ presumptive nominees.
The Democratic Socialists of America are also backing a protest vote for delegates to the national convention against Biden over his handling of the violence in Gaza.
Jessica Dunlap, a spokesperson for the effort in New Jersey, said the goal is to send a message to Biden about his policies toward those living in Gaza. Appearing under “uncommitted” on the ballot will be the slogan: “Justice for Palestine, Permanent Ceasefire Now.” A similar effort in Michigan this year yielded the group with two delegates, compared with Biden’s 115 in that state.
Source: AP
