NJ's Democratic Senate primary chaos went to federal court Monday. What's next? | Stile

TRENTON — The chaos of the Democratic U.S. Senate primary moved into a federal courtroom Monday in a case that could very well strip away from New Jersey's county bosses the most powerful tool at their disposal: the use of the county line on primary ballots.

The case, the subject of a daylong marathon hearing before U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi, is now the centerpiece of Rep. Andy Kim’s upstart campaign against first lady Tammy Murphy, who became the front-runner in November when party leaders in some of the largest Democratic fiefs in North Jersey swiftly pledged their support for her candidacy.

That support meant Murphy would enjoy the advantage of being bracketed with other endorsed candidates in a preferential column — or line — on the June 4 ballot in each of those counties, an enormous advantage. Candidates bracketed on the line with the blessing of county organizations rarely lose.

Yet backlash anger among the party’s rank and file instantly began to brew over Murphy’s institutional advantage. Kim, a third-term congressman from South Jersey and a former national security aide to President Barack Obama, moved in February to harness that anger by filing a lawsuit seeking to strike down the New Jersey system, operating in 19 of 21 counties, as an unconstitutional relic that violates candidates' rights of association and free speech.

New Jersey is the only state in the country that uses such a system, which confers enormous power on county leaders and party kingmakers to protect incumbents, shoo away challengers and steer political largesse to their home counties.

Kim’s campaign sued most of the state's county clerks, who are responsible for drafting the election ballots. The campaign is seeking to replace the current ballot with a “block” ballot system, in which the candidates for a specific office are grouped together on the ballot instead of on a given line. It is commonly used in most states and in two New Jersey counties, Sussex and Salem.

What was said in court?

Kim's lawsuit was the subject of a preliminary hearing in federal court in Trenton on Monday.

“The design of New Jersey’s primary ballots is a national outlier and a national embarrassment,” said Flavio Komuves, Kim's lead attorney. “Because of the way our ballots are prepared, and are prepared at taxpayers’ expense, races are not presented to voters in an evenhanded way or a constitutional way, and they haven't been for a long time.”

Still, a mini-army of more than 20 lawyers representing the county clerks argued that Kim’s lawsuit was nothing more than a political ambush, strategically filed by the candidate to upend the system for his own political advantage.

They argued that his case is bolstered by “junk science” that would cause needless chaos and possibly disenfranchise candidates who played by well-established campaign laws. And, they said, the ballots cannot be redesigned and ready in time for the June 4 ballot as Kim's campaign demands.

“This was orchestrated, this was manipulated to get this before this court on the eve of an election to disrupt that election … and put all these public officials in a position where they have to scurry around and hurry around to accomplish an objective," argued Angelo Genova, a veteran lawyer who represented the county clerks.

The core of the clerks' defense was that Kim could have easily raised these objections in past campaigns, and even last fall, when he first leaped into the race after Sen. Bob Menendez was indicted on federal bribery charges, but waited for a maximum-impact moment to do so. Menendez is not expected to run for reelection as a Democrat.

But Kim, who took the stand Monday afternoon, pushed back, saying he didn’t begin privately exploring the idea with his campaign until after Murphy jumped into the race in November and instantly began notching endorsements from leaders in Essex, Union, Hudson, Bergen, Middlesex and Passaic counties. With the exception of Bergen, leaders in those counties bestowed the organizational line on Murphy — and in the case of Bergen, Democratic Party Chairman Paul Juliano effectively used his influence at the county nominating convention to deliver a victory to her. Those counties represent nearly 60% of all Democratic voters in New Jersey.

Kim also said he wanted to conduct his “due diligence” by first waiting for instances where he could show “concrete” proof that he was harmed by the archaic system. And that came in early February, when the Passaic Democrats granted Murphy the line in a closed-door meeting. Kim also said he commissioned a study to see if he could prevail in court by seeking a preliminary injunction against the line system.

Kim, who has won the line in nine counties, also said the system forced him to associate, or bracket, in a column with candidates he knows very little about.

And, he argued, he would feel pressure to quickly round up candidates for a competitive slate if forced to run an off-the-line challenge in other counties to make him appear to voters as a more viable candidate. Given that 2024 is a presidential election year, he would need to align himself with a Democratic presidential candidate other than Joe Biden.

“Do you think I can create a separate bracket that is going to have someone at the top that is going to have the same name recognition and understanding for the voters as Joe Biden? There's just no comparison there," he testified.

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What comes next?

Quraishi could issue a ruling as early as this week. A decision to strike down the old system could throw the primary for all candidates into chaos — the filing deadline for petitions for all candidates is next Monday at 4 p.m.

It could also strike a blow to the Murphy campaign, which has been struggling despite her institutional support. Kim leads in polls and has clearly captured the grassroots momentum, winning in nine counties that have allowed committee members to cast their ballot in secret. Striking down the system would mean Murphy would no longer enjoy the line in those Democratic-rich counties in the north, bolstering Kim’s chances at winning.

The hearing also comes one day after state Attorney General Matthew Platkin sent a letter to the judge saying he would not defend the current laws undergirding the ballot line system because he deemed them unconstitutional.

Quraishi was clearly annoyed at Platkin’s last-minute letter, accusing him of “lobbing his opinion from the cheap seats with nothing behind it.”The judge gave attorneys from both sides until Friday to file briefs on the question of whether he should allow Platkin's letter to be entered as evidence in the case.

Still, it was another blow to Murphy and added to the growing chorus among elected and party officials to abolish the line. That cascade of anti-line advocates now includes Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who switched his endorsement from Murphy to Kim on Monday

"After watching the county conventions, it’s hard to argue that Andy Kim isn’t the stronger candidate for the U.S. Senate race,'' said Fulop, who is running for governor next year. "This campaign has become a catalyst for the backbone of the Democratic Party to be saying loud and clear that things need to change in New Jersey. I fully agree with them."

At the outset of the hearing, the judge warned defense lawyers not to cite tradition as a defense.

“The argument that ‘this is how we’ve always done it, so this is how it should be,’ is not going to convince this court,” he said.

Charlie Stile is a veteran New Jersey political columnist. For unlimited access to his unique insights into New Jersey’s political power structure and his powerful watchdog work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: stile@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ Senate primary: Andy Kim lawsuit on line has first hearing