Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who says he has “unique experience in this matter,” has filed a 22-page brief in the federal court fight over New Jersey’s controversial “county line,” methodically picking apart the argument that the primary ballot design is not unfair and serves a “legitimate government interest.”
Fulop, who filed the brief as a 2025 gubernatorial candidate, evoked the legends of iron-fisted political bosses Frank Hague and William Tweed in opposing the appeal filed by the Camden County Democratic Organization last week with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a New Jersey judge’s ruling that barred county clerks from using the county-line design for the upcoming Democratic primary.
The federal lawsuit had been brought by U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, who is running for the Democratic nomination for Robert Menendez’s U.S. Senate seat. Fulop initially endorsed First Lady Tammy Murphy, the wife of Gov. Phil Murphy, but announced last month he was switching his support to Kim. A week later, amid mounting support for Kim, Murphy dropped out of the race.
“Whatever (infamous Jersey City Mayor) Hague wanted, Hague got. Such is the life of a political boss,” the brief said. “Whether it was Tammany Hall in New York or Nucky Johnson in Atlantic City, Frank Hague ran neither the first nor the last political machine in history, and the current county line system that is in place is just its latest version.”
The legal brief checks off the the “absurdity” of arguments made by the Democratic parties of Camden, Middlesex and Morris counties, first noting “the most striking admission” from the Middlesex County Democratic Organization’s amicus brief is that “preferential ballot placement comes with the benefit of a ‘windfall’ of votes from ‘some low information voters.’ ”
Fulop’s brief, filed by Scott Salmon of the Florham Park-based Jardim Meisner Salmon Sprague and Susser, describes Fulop’s own frustration with the county line and the proven overwhelming advantage for those awarded it by the local county Democratic parties.
Fulop was elected mayor in a non-partisan election 2013, upsetting Jerramiah Healy, despite the incumbent’s endorsement by President Barack Obama and the support system of the Hudson County Democratic Organization.
“And yet, the one thing Healy did not have was the county line,” the brief said. “... Because the county line system is strictly forbidden in these elections, Fulop’s ideas and policies took center stage, and he was able to win a victory over Healy by a 52-38% margin.”
Fulop dropped out of the 2017 race for governor when he determined that he didn’t have a path to the nomination without the support of the various county parties — the county line on their ballots — so he decided not to run and risk a “very, very bloody primary.”
The brief claims the notion that removing the county-line design would confuse voters is an outright lie, citing evidence that proves the office-block balloting system is easier to understand. Hudson County Democratic Organization Chairman Anthony Vainieri made a similar argument — that voters would be confused with a new ballot — before county clerks across the state dropped their opposition to Kim’s lawsuit.
Kim’s lawsuit was buoyed by state Attorney General Matt Platkin’s refusal to defend the county line system. Platkin said there is no evidence “showing that these laws advance the relevant government interests,” and the record “confirms that they do not.”
