A long-simmering fight over New Jersey’s unique primary ballot design reached a federal courtroom Monday in a case that has the potential to upend not only the state’s tense U.S. Senate race but Garden State politics in general.
A judge in U.S. District Court in Trenton heard more than eight hours of oral arguments in a federal lawsuit U.S. Rep. Andy Kim filed seeking to throw out the state’s “county line” system, in which candidates endorsed by their county Democratic and Republican parties — often under the influence of party bosses — are bracketed together on primary ballots, with opponents listed to the side.
The setup has become a big issue as Kim runs against First Lady Tammy Murphy in a wild and contentious Democratic primary for the party’s nomination to take over for indicted Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez. Kim claims the process violates the U.S. Constitution and gives an unfair advantage to Murphy, the wife of Gov. Phil Murphy.
In a shocking filing the night before the hearing, state Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office wrote a letter to the judge saying Platkin — a longtime Murphy ally — won’t step into the case and defend the system because he considers it unconstitutional.
That all weighed heavily as Kim, his attorneys, and a bevy of lawyers representing several county clerks pushing to keep the setup appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi in a packed courtroom.
But Quraishi questioned whether to consider Platkin’s statement at all, saying that while the attorney general declined to intervene in the case, he is “lobbing his opinion from the cheap seats” in a last-minute filing.
“He’s trying to backdoor his opinion without getting into the case,” the judge said.
Platkin, the state’s top law enforcement official, had 60 days to decide whether to intervene in the lawsuit because it challenges state laws that permit the system.
His office wrote that candidates not chosen by party leaders can be placed “at the end of a ballot with multiple blank spaces separating them from their competitors, which creates the phenomenon known as ‘ballot Siberia.’”
Angelo Genova, a high-profile attorney representing numerous county clerks, called the letter a “litigation grenade” and said it shouldn’t be considered.
Quraishi gave both sides until Friday to submit legal filings as to whether he should consider Platkin’s opinion.
Platkin’s position is a break from Gov. Murphy, the man who appointed him, as the governor’s wife runs for Senate in a race where the county line is considered critical to her campaign.
Tammy Murphy, a first-time candidate, was endorsed early on by many prominent Democrats, including the county chairs in eight of the state’s largest counties who hold great sway over who receives the line. Several either do business with the state or hold state jobs, which critics say gives them incentive to back Murphy’s campaign and not run afoul of the governor. Both the first lady and governor have staunchly denied accusations of nepotism.
In response to Platkin’s letter, Mahen Gunaratna, the governor’s communication director, said: “Outside the context of any campaign, Governor Murphy has consistently and accurately noted that the bracketing of candidates is permitted by duly enacted laws that have been on the books for decades.
“It is well-established that Attorneys General have a general obligation to defend the constitutionality of statutes, regardless of their own personal views,” Gunaratna said. “The Governor believes that a legal defense of the statute permitting bracketing would have been appropriate and consistent with the actions of prior Attorneys General.”
New Jersey is the only state with this ballot design, used in 19 of the state’s 21 counties. Kim and two U.S. House candidates are asking the judge for an injunction to block the system starting with the June primary and require all county clerks to switch to the “office block” ballot used in 49 other states, in which candidates are grouped together based on the office they are seeking.
Quraishi did not indicate Monday when he may make a ruling in the case, though the clock is ticking for him to decide in time for the primary, which is now 2 1/2 months away.
People have argued about the line, a cornerstone of New Jersey’s political ecosystem, for years. The arrangement, critics say, gives the endorsed candidates a big advantage by making them appear more prominent on ballots and making it easier for voters simply to vote down the line.
Opponents say it’s arcane and confusing, benefits party bosses’ chosen candidates, keeps political machines in power by demanding loyalty from those who the preferential placement, deters newcomers from running for office, and discriminates against women candidates and candidates of color.
Supporters say the helps voters clearly see whom a party supports and helps ensure parties select stronger nominees.
Genova said changing the ballot design could confuse voters even more and noted this has been the structure in New Jersey for 100 years.
Quraishi scoffed at that.
“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,” the judge said.
Bill Tambussi, another defense attorney, said political parties have a “right to associate,” and that means they have “the right to identify those candidates with which it means to associate.”
Quraishi responded by asking why county parties can’t simply endorse and leave it at that.
“Why does it have to be that they also control the ballot?” the judge asked.
Testifying from the stand during Monday’s hearing, Kim said it’s often seen as “impossible” for a candidate to win without the county line. A recent study by a Rutgers University professor found the line gave congressional candidates an advantage of up to 38 percentage points.
“The design of New Jersey’s primary ballots is a national outlier and a national embarrassment,” said Flavio Komuves, an attorney for Kim.
Counties confer the lines in different ways. Kim — who has accused Murphy of “weaponizing the line” — noted he has won party endorsements in several counties in which rank-and-file members vote via secret ballot to bestow the line. But that, he said, gives him the line in places that make up only 33% of all registered Democrats in New Jersey.
Murphy, meanwhile, has won most of her lines in larger, vote-rich counties where party leaders — many of whom personally endorsed her — have the biggest say in who gets the line. That gives Murphy with a statistical advantage over Kim.
Kim also noted that even in counties where candidates win the line, they are sometimes forced to be bracketed with others they don’t know.
“I just ask for us to have a fair ballot here,” the three-term congressman said. “All I’m asking for is New Jersey to be in line with 49 other states.”
“The whole point of democracy is to give the people a choice and be able to have the decision be made by the people,” Kim added. “If there are elements limiting that, I find that to be adverse to the pursuit of democracy.”
A group of progressive advocates and failed candidatesfiled a similar lawsuit in 2020 challenging the line, but Kim launched his suit to move the process along.
County clerksargue it’s too late to change the system in time for the June primary, saying the switch could cause logistical havoc.
“This would be of grave concern to be able to get this done in the very short time frame that we’d have,” Monmouth County Clerk Christine Hanlon testified.
At one point, David Passante, who runs a printing business, Royal Printing Company, that produces ballots for many counties, said changing the system this close to the primary wouldlead to “chaos.”
The judge questioned that.
“If I order a change, you said it would be chaos,” Quraishi said. “But what if one of the county clerks decides they want to do it differently. ‘We prefer this kind of ballot in this county.’ Do you tell them you can’t take their business?”
“No,” Passante replied.
“Would you find a way to do it?” the judge asked.
“Yes,” Passante said.
“If I order it, it’s chaos. If the county clerk asks him, he finds a way to get it done,” Quraishi said.
Komuves, Kim’s attorney, insisted clerks would have enough time to rework the ballots by April 20, when ballots for overseas and military voters must go out.
Meanwhile, defense attorneys pressed Kim over the fact he ran with the line in his three congressional campaigns and continues to see county endorsements now even as he sues to stop them. Kim said he has long disliked the system but felt he needed to take part to make his candidacy viable in the past and now to “prevent a competitor of mine to gain an advantage in all of those counties.”
“One can seek reforms to a system while still having to work within it,” he said.
Murphy’s campaign has called Kim’s lawsuit a “sad hypocritical stunt.”
But in the wake of Platkin’s filing, Tammy Murphy said in a statement: “I am running for the U.S. Senate, and as I’ve stated repeatedly in this race, will comply with whatever the courts decide the process of the race to be.”
“If it remains up to the county parties to determine the process, I will complete those conventions and screenings,” added Murphy, who was not in court. “Should the courts determine a different path, I will follow those rules as well.”
Defense attorneys also suggested Kim should have filed the suit earlier, accusing him of trying to “disrupt” the election. Kim said he waited until he actually suffered “harm” by losing a line, in Passaic County, last month.
Should the judge strike down the system, it would have broader implications beyond the Senate race. Experts say it would dilute the outsized power county parties hold in New Jersey politics and pave the way for more competitive primaries.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat running to succeed Phil Murphy as governor next year, praised Platkin for deciding “not to defend the indefensible,” saying the line is “an antidemocratic system that works to empower the few over the many.”
“We are ready to turn a new leaf in this state and losing the line is an important step towards reimagining the power of the New Jersey people,” Baraka said.
State Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco, R-Morris, chastised Platkin.
“The Attorney General’s role is to enforce and defend the law, not to make or repeal it,” Bucco said. “That is clearly the responsibility of the Legislature.”
Quraishi stressed that “political concerns” of the defendants “have absolutely no bearing” on his ultimate decision and no one should “read the tea leaves” as to what that decision may be.
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X at @johnsb01.
