The Impact of New Jersey's County Line Primary Ballots
on Election Outcomes, Politics, and Policy
Julia Sass Rubin, Ph.D.
Forthcoming, Seton Hall Law Review
Julia Sass Rubin is the Associate Dean of Academic Programs, Director of the Public
Policy Program, and an Associate Professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of
Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University - New Brunswick
2
This article examines New Jersey’s unique county line primary ballots; specifically, how
the county line ballots affect primary election outcomes, and how that, in turn, impacts
the state’s political system. Primary elections are particularly important in New Jersey
because the majority of the state’s counties and legislative districts are dominated by
one of the two major parties.
1
With general election outcomes largely a foregone
conclusion in much of the state, the real contests happen in the primaries.
The article proceeds as follows: The first section describes the county line ballot and the
mechanisms through which it may affect voting behavior. The second section examines
the impact of the county line ballot on primary election outcomes. The third section
describes how parties award the county line and the resulting candidate choices
available to voters. The article concludes with a discussion of how the county line
primary ballot affects New Jersey politics and policy.
I. New Jersey’s Unique Primary Ballot
New Jersey’s county line primary ballots are very different from primary ballots in other
states.
2
A review of primary ballots in the largest counties in all fifty states and the
District of Columbia found that, outside of New Jersey, primary ballots are organized by
the electoral position being sought, such as Senator or Governor. Most states list
candidates beneath the position they are seeking (see Figure 1, Elko County, Nevada
ballot). In a few states, candidates appear to the right of the position they are seeking
1
See Matt Friedman. N.J. advocates push commission to draw more competitive legislative districts, NJ.Com,
February 18, 2011. https://www.nj.com/news/2011/02/commission_based_on_nj_politic.html
2
See Julia Sass Rubin. Toeing the Line: New Jersey Primary Ballots Enable Party Insiders to Pick Winners. NJ
Policy Perspective, June 29, 2020. https://njppprevious.wpengine.com/reports/toeing-the-line-new-jersey-primary-
ballots-enable-party-insiders-to-pick-winners
3
(see Figure 1, Sussex County, Delaware ballot). These ballot designs make it relatively
easy for voters to identify which candidates are running for each electoral position.
Insert Figure 1 here
By contrast, county line primary ballots, which are used by both the Democratic and
Republican parties in nineteen of New Jersey’s twenty-one counties, are organized
around a group of candidates endorsed by the county parties. These groups of party-
endorsed candidates are referred to as the “county line,” “party line,” or organization
line” because they are presented on the ballot as a vertical or horizontal line of names,
usually with a candidate included for every position on the ballot in that election cycle.
Figure 2 shows a 2020 New Jersey Democratic primary ballot from Monmouth County.
The seven county line candidates are in column one. The remaining six candidates are
scattered across the other four, mostly empty, columns. There is no obvious logic as to
why each of the non-endorsed candidates is in a particular column. Column two
includes a candidate for the U.S. Senate and two candidates for County Commissioner
(previously called Freeholder). Column three includes a candidate for President and his
delegates. Columns four and five each include a single candidate for the U.S. House of
Representatives.
Insert Figure 2 here
This ballot design provides multiple advantages for candidates who appear on the
county line. First, the county line is easy for voters to find on the ballot. The inclusion of
4
candidates for every position makes it visually distinct. It also usually has prime ballot
position, in the first or second column or row.
Candidates on the county line are further advantaged by the placement of candidates
for the highest position on the ballot that cycle at the head of the line -- such as Joseph
Biden in the Monmouth example. While voters may not know the names of candidates
running for county commissioner or county clerk, they generally know who is running for
president, governor, or US senator. These better-known candidates lend familiarity and
legitimacy to the other county line candidates.
Candidates not on the county line appear in different columns or rows and are often
separated from the county line by additional blank columns or rows, such as the two
columns between Stephanie Schmid, the county line candidates for US House of
Representatives on the Monmouth ballot, and her two challengers Christine Conforti
and David Applefield. In extreme examples, candidates on the county line are separated
from their challengers by multiple columns or rows. For example, on the 2018 Camden
County Democratic primary ballot shown in Figure 3, Donald Norcross, the county line
candidate for US House of Representatives, is separated from his challengers by six
blank columns. This can make the non-county line candidates more difficult for voters to
find on the ballot, a placement that has colloquially come to be known as “ballot
Siberia.”
Insert Figure 3 here
5
Candidates not on the county line also may be placed in the same column or row as
their opponents. For example, on the 2018 Camden County Democratic primary ballot,
two candidates running against each other for the US House of Representative both
appear in column 9.
Designing primary ballots in this way creates murky contest boundaries that make it
difficult for voters to determine which candidates are running for each office.
3
This
results in voters not realizing that some positions are contested, benefiting the
candidates on the county line, who are easier to locate on the ballot. By confusing
voters, the county line ballots also encourage overvotes and undervotes.
The 2020 primary election provided examples of both outcomes. The Mercer County
Democratic primary ballot shown in figure 4, listed two of the three candidates for the
US House of Representatives 4
th
Congressional District in column A, which is the
county line, one below the other. The third candidate appeared in column B.
4
Insert Figure 4 here
New Jersey primary voters are encouraged by the county parties, and conditioned by
years of practice, to vote for all the candidates on a county line regardless of the ballot
instructions. In this case, placing both Christine Conforti and Stephanie Schmid on the
same column encouraged voters to vote for both even though the ballot instructed them
3
See Andrea Cordova McCadney, Lawrence Norden and Whitney Quesenbery, Common Ballot Design Flaws and
How to Fix Them, The Brennan Center. February 3, 2020. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-
reports/common-ballot-design-flaws-and-how-fix-them.
4
Article VII of Mercer County Democratic Committee Constitution and Bylaws states that “Any candidate failing to be
endorsed shall have the option of choosing to run in the same column as the endorsed candidate(s) but without the
party slogan only if the unendorsed candidate received at least forty percent (40%) of the vote of the registered
delegates in any ballot in which a candidate received the endorsement of the Convention.” See
https://www.mercerdemocrats.com/_files/ugd/f6fae7_3f3c588f8c354170aca934a23017a381.pdf page 6.
6
to vote for only one candidate. This ballot design resulted in a 32.4% overvote in this
Congressional contest, leading to all the overvotes being discarded.
In contrast, the Atlantic County Democratic primary ballot shown in Figure 5 resulted in
substantial undervotes, with the number of Democratic votes cast for the U.S. Senate
totaling only 81% of the votes cast for President and only 82% of the votes cast for U.S.
House of Representatives. In every other county, the total votes for U.S. Senate
exceeded the number cast for the U.S. House of Representatives and equaled at least
97% of the total votes cast for President.
Insert Figure 5 here
The undervotes in the Atlantic County example likely reflect the lack of a Senate
candidate on the county line in column A. Cory Booker, the incumbent senator running
for reelection, was endorsed by all the county parties but chose not to run on the line in
Atlantic County. Instead, Senator Booker appeared on the primary ballot in column J,
above his friend Brigid Callahan Harrison, who was running for the US House of
Representatives and did not receive the Atlantic County party’s endorsement. Nearly
twenty percent of the Democratic voters in this primary left the US Senate position on
their ballots blank. Conditioned to vote for everyone on the line, they may have been
reluctant to vote for candidates not on the county line or may not even have realized
that they could do so.
7
II. Impact of the County Line on New Jersey Primary Election Outcomes
To evaluate the impact of the county line primary ballot on election outcomes, Diez
examined New Jersey legislative election outcomes for incumbents from 2003 to 2019.
5
I updated his data to include the 2021 and 2023 legislative primary elections.
Between 2003 and 2023, 1033 incumbent NJ state legislators ran for reelection; 227 of
them had a challenger.
6
In 208 of those 227 contested primaries, incumbents were
awarded the county line in all the counties in their district that used a county line ballot.
In 19 of the 227 contested primaries, incumbents were denied the county line in at least
one of the counties in their district.
Of the 208 incumbents who ran on the county line in all the counties in their district, 205
won renomination and three were defeated.
Insert Figure 6 here
Of the 19 incumbents denied the county line in at least one county in their legislative
district, nine won their primaries and ten were defeated. Only two of those nine won
while running off the county line in every county in their district – Nia Gill in 2003 and
Ronald Rice in 2007. The other seven had the county line in at least one of the counties
in their district. For example, Robert Auth and Deanne DeFuccio lost the county line in
Passaic in their 2021 reelection bid for the Republican nomination for the 39th NJ
Assembly District. However, they kept the county line in Bergen, which was the larger
5
Francisco Diez, The Likely Advantages of the Line, Communication Workers of America analysis, July 29, 2019.
This analysis was not published but was shared with the author.
6
Incumbent is defined as having served in the prior term in the same capacity in at least some of the same
counties. This includes incumbents whose district number changed post redistricting and those who ran against
other incumbents post redistricting.
8
portion of their district. They lost their races in Passaic but still won the primary because
they won in Bergen.
Insert Figure 7 here
Two of the ten incumbents who lost after losing the county line in at least one county in
their district had the county line in other counties in their district. Both won the counties
where they were on the county line.
Insert Figure 8 here
No incumbent on the county line in all the counties in their district has lost a primary
election since 2009. This fourteen-year period encompasses seven legislative election
cycles. In contrast, in the other 49 states, 1,145 state legislative incumbents lost primary
elections over that time period.
7
To quantify the impact of the county line on primary election outcomes, I analyzed the
results of congressional and senatorial primary election contests held between 2002
and 2022 in which political parties in different counties endorsed different primary
candidates.
8
For example, in the 2020 primary, two candidates split the Republican
party endorsements in the two counties that made up the 3rd Congressional District.
Kate Gibbs was endorsed and given the line by the Burlington County Republican party
and David Richter was endorsed and given the line by the Ocean County Republican
7
In the 48 states that hold their state legislative elections in even-numbered years, 1,121 state legislators lost primary
elections between 2010 and 2022. Source: https://news.ballotpedia.org/2022/10/21/a-closer-look-at-the-229-
incumbents-who-lost-state-legislative-primaries/. In Virginia, the only other state besides New Jersey to hold its state
legislative elections in odd-numbered years, 24 state legislative incumbents lost their primary elections between 2011
and 2023. Source: https://ballotpedia.org/Incumbents_defeated_in_state_legislative_elections,_2023#Virginia
8
The historical election results are from the New Jersey Voter Information Portal, Department of State, Division of
Elections https://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-information-results.shtml.
9
party. Gibbs received 57% of the vote when she was on the county line in Burlington
and 22% when she was not on the county line in Ocean. Richter received 78% of the
vote when he was on the county line in Ocean and 43% when he was not on the county
line in Burlington. The difference in how Gibbs and Richter performed when they were
on the county line versus when their opponent was on the county line was 35
percentage points.
Insert Figure 9 here
Between 2002 and 2022, 45 congressional and senatorial candidates appeared on the
county line in at least one county and had at least one opponent on the county line in a
different county.
9
Every one of those 45 candidates performed substantially better when
they were on the county line than when their opponent was on the county line. The
average margin in performance for those 45 candidates between being on the county
line and having their opponent on the county line was 38 percentage points.
Insert Figure 10 here
Only three of those 45 candidates were incumbents – Senator Frank Lautenberg, who
split county endorsements with Congressman Rob Andrews in the 2008 Democratic
senatorial primary, and Congressmen Bill Pascrell and Steven Rothman, who split
endorsements with each other in the 2012 Democratic primary for the 9
th
congressional
9
For contests with more than two counties, a candidate’s percentage of the total vote was averaged for all the
counties in which that candidate was on the county line versus their percentage of the total vote for all the
counties in which one of their opponents was on the county line. Counties that did not use a county line ballot in
that election contest were excluded from the averages.
10
district.
10
The small number of incumbents is not surprising as incumbents, particularly
those at the federal level, generally maintain county party support for their reelections.
Although incumbency did not protect state legislators who lost the county line, we might
expect congressional incumbents to have greater name recognition with primary voters,
which could help counter the impact of the county line. In each of the three federal
primaries that included incumbents, however, being on the county line provided a
greater advantage than incumbency. Lautenberg, Pascrell, and Rothman lost every
county in which their opponent was on the county line and won every county in which
they were on the county line.
Insert Figure 11 here
III. Awarding the County Line and New Jersey Politics
The county line is awarded to candidates endorsed by the county Democratic and
Republican parties. In theory, the endorsement decisions are made by county
committee members, two Democrats and two Republicans elected in each precinct by
primary voters who belong to those parties.
11
The county committee members are
meant to represent the voters of their political party who live in their home precincts in
determining which candidates to endorse for local, county, and state-level positions.
10
Pascrell and Rothman competed against each other after New Jersey lost a Congressional District following the
2010 census. Prior to redistricting, Rothman had represented the 9
th
Congressional District consisting of Bergen,
Hudson, and a small part of Passaic County, while Pascrell had represented the 8
th
, consisting of Passaic and Essex
counties. Post redistricting, parts of both of their former districts ended up in the new 9
th
Congressional District, which
consisted of Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic counties. Rothman and Pascrell split county endorsements, with Rothman
receiving the county line in Bergen and Hudson counties and Pascrell, who had represented a much larger portion of
Passaic than Rothman, receiving the county line in Passaic.
11
County committee members are elected during primaries and serve for two-, three- or four-year terms, depending
on the bylaws of their county party.
11
In practice, the endorsement process varies substantially by county and between
election cycles. A few county party bylaws mention a specific endorsement process.
Most county party bylaws, however, are silent on this issue.
In some counties, the party endorsement process includes a vote by county committee
members.
12
Municipal party committees, made up of the county committee members in
each municipality, decide on endorsements for mayor and city council. The entire
county committee meets at county nominating conventions to determine county-wide
endorsements (e.g., county elected positions, state legislature, congress, governor, and
president). In other counties, the endorsement decisions are made solely by the county
party chair, sometimes after consultation with the chairs of the municipal party
committees in that county.
13
,
14
Even in counties that hold county nominating conventions at which all county committee
members vote, the endorsement process is vulnerable to influence by the county party
chairs. In some counties, convention votes cast by individual committee members are
not secret, which can create pressure to vote in ways that align with the wishes of the
county party chair.
15
Pleasing the county party chair is important because the chair determines which county
committee members may run for election on the county line, along with the other
12
The number of county committees that allow a vote varies by year, based on the preferences of the county party
chairs.
13
See Colleen O’Dea, Some NJ Congressional Primary Candidates Argue Party-Line Politics Are Unfair. NJ
Spotlight, May 14, 2018. https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2018/05/18-05-13-some-nj-congressional-primary-
candidates-argue-party-line-politics-are-unfair/
14
County party chairs are elected by members of the county committee. They must reside in the county but do not
have to be county committee members themselves. See Brett M. Pugach, The County Line: The law and politics of
ballot positioning in New Jersey. Rutgers University Law Review, Volume 72, Issue 3, Spring.
15
See O’Dea. Also see Max Pizarro, LIVE BLOG: Union County Democratic Committee Special Convention,
February 21, 2018. https://www.insidernj.com/live-blog-union-county-democratic-committee-special-convention/
12
endorsed candidates. If the chair removes a committee member from the county line, it
can be much more difficult for that committee member to be reelected. This happens
regularly. In Union County, for example, the Democratic County party chair Nicholas
Scutari removed a large number of county committee members from the county line in
2019 after they supported his opponent in the 2018 chair election.
16
Scutari knew which
committee members voted for him versus his opponent because they had to sign their
names to their ballots.
17
Another reason that county committee members may act in accordance with the wishes
of the county party chair is that they or their family members may be municipal or county
employees and fear losing those jobs as retribution from the county party chairs.
18
Retribution is a particular concern when the party chair also holds other positions of
power. Scutari, for example, is Union County Democratic Party Chair; represents part of
Union County in the New Jersey State Senate; has served as Senate President since
2021; and is the prosecutor for the Union County City of Linden. Similarly, Shaun
Golden, the Republican party chair of Monmouth County, serves as the elected county
sheriff.
In addition to their ability to influence the votes of county committee members, county
party chairs can also influence endorsement decisions by withholding information
regarding the endorsement process from candidates they do not support or by
16
See Maryanne Disporto, Charlie Sweeney, Paul Bentsen, Joanne Wrobleski, Patricia Brandt, Nancy Yewaisis,
Joseph Wrobleski, Phil Laskowski, Harry Brandt, Maria Santiago, Patrick Murphy, Judith Gottlieb, Robin Dexter-
Meyer, Robert Ellenport, Michael Altmann, Leslie Romano, Denise Hessler, Dario Valdivia, Paul Bentsen, Joanne
Wrobleski, Mark Boulanger, Gail Sweeney, Jerry Fogle, and Nancy Sheridan. Union County Dem Chair Wages War
on Opponents in Local Towns. Tap Into Clark. May 28, 2019. https://www.tapinto.net/towns/clark/articles/union-
county-dem-chair-wages-war-on-opponents-in-local-townset all
17
See Pizarro, 2018.
18
See Disporto et al, 2019.
13
implementing county convention rules that are challenging for those candidates to
navigate. In Somerset County, for example, some of the 2021 Democratic candidates
for state assembly were excluded from consideration because of a requirement that
they be nominated from the convention floor. Chris Fistonich, one of those candidates,
described his experience:
The Somerset County Democratic Committee (SCDC) has a screening process
to vet candidates... They held their nominating convention on March 4th, 2021.
With no public notice in any newspaper or any public facing publication…As a
candidate for the 16th Assembly District, I reached out to Somerset County party
leadership in February, formally announcing my intention to seek the
endorsement of the SCDC. I was told that I had “missed screening.” Later that
week I finally learned when the convention would be and was instructed that I
would require a member of the SCDC to nominate me, and another member to
second the nomination in order to speak and to be eligible to earn votes at the
convention. Delegates were forbidden from nominating or seconding multiple
candidates, already reducing the pool of delegates who might consider
nominating the myriad candidates running for the Assembly seat. Contact
information was provided for the voting delegates that I might seek their support.
A dozen of the email addresses bounced back from being either out of date or
erroneously written out. More than half a dozen delegates were excited about my
candidacy: a bold, progressive vision backed by technical expertise. Many
agreed that more scientists are needed in our state government. Several
indicated they would be happy to vote for me. Zero delegates, however, would
nominate me or second my nomination. One cited a “conflict of interest.” Another
cited “fear of blowback from party leadership, especially Peg [Schaffer].” Yet
another mentioned in no uncertain terms that they were “discouraged from
nominating a non-Somerset resident.” I would not get to speak at the convention
due to these insurmountable restrictions and roadblocks.”
19
Even in counties that allow county committee members to participate in the candidate
endorsement process and to vote a secret ballot, county committee decisions can be
overruled by the county party chair, who has the power under New Jersey law to
19
Chris Fistonich, personal communication with author, March 6, 2021.
14
determine who will be on the county line.
20
In 2021, for example, the Middlesex County
Democratic party chair Kevin McCabe overruled the Edison municipal committee
endorsements for mayor and city council and awarded the county line to other
candidates.
21
Candidates are aware of the power of the county line to determine primary election
outcomes. Many drop out of the primary if they do not receive the party’s endorsements.
This is particularly the case for county-level and state legislative positions, candidates
for which tend to be less well known to the voters. This includes incumbents. In 2021,
for example, Assembly Majority Whip Nickolas Chiaravalloti did not seek reelection to a
fourth term in the state Assembly after losing the county line.
22
Chiaravalloti said that he
decided to retire because “the prospect of winning a Democratic primary off an
organization line was too daunting.”
23
The difficulty of winning when not on the county line may explain New Jersey’s low
percentage of contested primary elections, particularly for the state legislature and
county positions. In 2021, for example, only 10 percent of the state legislative positions
20
See Brett M. Pugach, The County Line: The law and politics of ballot positioning in New Jersey. Rutgers University
Law Review, Volume 72, Issue 3, Spring. “The practical effect of receiving the endorsement of the county committee
is that it leads to the endorsed candidates having their names listed on the same column or row of the ballot, with the
same ballot slogan under each of their names…The slogan used by county committee-endorsed candidates is often
owned by a corporation, which grants permission for the slogan’s use to the slate of candidates endorsed by the
county committee. This is because New Jersey law requires that those who wish to use a ballot slogan containing the
name of another person or an incorporated association must receive the written consent of such person or entity. For
all practical purposes, the county chair and the county’s political machine, or those under their close direction, will
control the corporation that owns the slogan. Furthermore, all endorsed candidates will be featured on the same line
of the ballot with that same slogan. Technically, the county line itself is controlled by the campaign manager of the
candidates (usually two or more [county commissioner] candidates) who file a joint petition with the county clerk, and
not by the county chair; however, in practice, the county chair will control who that campaign manager is” (p. 654).
21
Insider NJ, Bhagia Hits Back After McCabe Awards Edison Line to Joshi. April 7, 2021.
https://www.insidernj.com/bhagia-hits-back-after-mccabe-awards-edison-line-to-joshi/
22
By long-standing tradition, the county line for the two state assembly positions in Chiaravalloti’s district is allocated
by the mayors of Bayonne and Jersey City. See Peter D’Auria, Chiaravalloti will seek re-election without the county
line, Mar. 30, 2021,https://www.nj.com/hudson/2021/03/chiaravalloti-will-seek-re-election-without-the-county-line.html.
23
See David Wildstein (2021, April 19). Chiaravalloti drops bid for re-election after losing party support. New Jersey
Globe. https://newjerseyglobe.com/legislature/chiaravalloti-drops-bid-for-re-election-after-losing-party-support/s
15
were contested in the primary. Two years later, following redistricting that saw the
retirement of a historically large number of incumbents, the percentage of contested
primaries increased only minutely to 11.3%.
24
This is one of the lowest percentages
nationally.
25
Insert Figure 12 here
The power of the county party chairs to determine who receives the county line also
contributes to the state’s relatively low percentages of women in elected office. Unlike
33 other states, New Jersey has never had a female US Senator. Only one woman has
served as governor and only seven women have served in Congress (with two of those
seven elected in the last eight years). New Jersey ranks 27
th
nationally for the
percentage of women in municipal office and 21
st
nationally for the percentage of
women in the state legislature.
26
As Jean Sinzdak, Associate Director of the Rutgers Center for American Women and
Politics, observed “Valuable [county] line slots are frequently taken by people who
emerge from the networks of the party chairs, limiting the ability of outsiders to break
24
In 2023, 28 out of 240 state legislative positions did not have an incumbent running in the primary. Seven
incumbents retired from the New Jersey State Senate before the primary and two others were redistricted into the
same district. Twenty incumbents retired from the New Jersey Assembly before the primary. In comparison, there
were only fifteen seats without an incumbent running in 2011, the first year after the 2010 redistricting, and an
average of 8.4 open seats for the five election cycles in between 2011 and 2023. See Ballotpedia
https://ballotpedia.org/New_Jersey_State_Senate_elections,_2023
25
In 2021, 24 out of 240 state legislative seats (120 Republican and 120 Democratic) were contested in the primary
In 2023, 27 out of 240 state legislative seats were contested in the primary. According to Ballotpedia, twenty percent
of the legislative primaries held in 2022 were contested, ranging from 1.7% in Alaska to 60% in California. The
national percentage of contested even-year state legislative primaries held during the prior decade ranged from 16 to
19%. See Ballotpedia https://ballotpedia.org/Contested_state_legislative_primaries,_2022 Direct comparisons across
states are challenging because Ballotpedia calculates the number of contested primaries using the number of
primaries rather than the number of contested seats. Because New Jersey ballots ask voters to select up to two
candidates for the state Assembly, Ballotpedia treats both candidates as one primary. As a result, Ballotpedia does
not differentiate whether one or both seats are contested.
26
See Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP). 2023. “New Jersey.” New Brunswick, NJ: Center for
American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University-New Brunswick.
https://cawp.rutgers.edu/facts/state-state-information/new-jersey (Accessed August 15, 2023)
16
through…And as the network of insiders in the state’s political system is already
overwhelmingly male, New Jersey remains trapped in a negative feedback loop that
privileges the emergence of male candidates and disadvantages women.”
27
IV. Impact of the county line on New Jersey Politics and Policy
The impact of the county line on New Jersey politics and policy extends well beyond the
candidate choices available to voters. Elected officials are aware of the importance of
the line for their reelection and the power of county party chairs to award the line. If an
elected official does not do as the county chair wants, they can lose the line and almost
surely lose the primary, ending or severely curtailing their political careers. In such an
environment, it is the county party chairs rather than the voters that elected officials
must please to be elected and to stay in office. This gives the county party chairs
substantial power to shape the state’s politics and public policy.
The chairs determine not only who is elected to the state legislature but, through their
ongoing influence over those state legislators, they also shape whom the legislators
elect Senate President and Assembly Speaker. These are very powerful positions that
decide which legislators serve as committee chairs and vice-chairs and which bills are
posted for consideration. The Senate President and Assembly Speaker also control
27
See Jean Sinzdak, In national politics, women are rising. In New Jersey, they’re treading water. NJ.Com,
December 8, 2020. https://www.nj.com/opinion/2020/12/in-national-politics-women-are-rising-in-new-jersey-theyre-
treading-water-opinion.html. As of August 2023, only 10 of New Jersey’s 42 county party chairs are women,
representing 28.4% of all chair positions (see Women in New Jersey Government 2023, Center for American Women
and Politics https://cawp.rutgers.edu/women-new-jersey-government).
17
well-funded political action committees they can use to support their own reelection as
well as that of other political candidates.
28
Governors, US Senators, and Congresspeople must also court the county party chairs
to receive the county line and win their respective primaries. For example former
Governor John Corzine and Governor Phil Murphy, both wealthy investment bankers,
made substantial donations to county party organizations to win the chairs’
endorsements.
29
By early October 2016, months before any formal county party
endorsement processes took place and more than seven months before the primary
election, Murphy had secured the support of many North Jersey Democratic county
party chairs and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and Senate President Steve Sweeney,
Murphy’s main primary opponents, had both dropped out of the race.
30
Matthew Hale, a
political science professor at Seton Hall University, observed that this showed “how
important county chairs are, and how important backroom politics in New Jersey is.”
31
28
See Julia Sass Rubin, Can Progressives Change New Jersey? The American Prospect, June 26, 2020
https://prospect.org/politics/can-progressives-change-new-jersey/ “The leadership of the state Senate and General
Assembly is critical in New Jersey. No legislation can advance without the blessing of the Senate president and
Assembly Speaker. They decide committee assignments, determine committee leadership, and have final say as to
which committee a bill is referred, which bills are heard and voted on in committee, and which bills are voted on by
the full Senate and Assembly after clearing committee. They also control legislative leadership PACs that raise their
own contributions and help fund the election and re-election of their allies. Legislators who are in their good graces
receive committee chairmanships that provide them with additional resources to hire staff and enable them to
generate contributions from the groups that hope to move legislation through their committees. In contrast, legislators
who upset the leadership risk losing committee positions and the ability to advance legislation” (p.7).
29
See David Kocieniewski, G.O.P. Says Corzine's Cash Makes Him the New Boss, The New York Times, Feb. 18,
2005, https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/18/nyregion/gop-says-corzines-cash-makes-him-the-new-boss.html and
Brent Johnson, Phil Murphy nabs another county endorsement in 2017 governor's race, NJ.Com, Oct. 18, 2016,
https://www.nj.com/politics/2016/10/phil_murphy_nabs_another_county_endorsement_in_201.html
30
See Herb Jackson and Charles Stile, Fulop won't run for governor, endorses Murphy, Asbury Park Pres,
September 28, 2016 https://www.app.com/story/news/politics/new-jersey/2016/09/28/fulop-murphy-nj-
governor/91219024/ and Matt Friedman, Sweeney out of NJ governor’s race, setting up Murphy as 2017 front-
runner, Politico, October 6, 2016, https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2016/10/sweeney-will-not-
run-for-governor-in-2017-106135.
31
See Brent Johnson, Phil Murphy nabs another county endorsement in 2017 governor's race, NJ.Com, Oct. 18,
2016, https://www.nj.com/politics/2016/10/phil_murphy_nabs_another_county_endorsement_in_201.html
18
This system of backroom politics is part of a transactional political culture that hinders
transparency and accountability and feeds what former state senator William Schluter
termed soft corruption, “when people who hold public office figure out how to game the
system in ways that enrich them and their cronies without breaking any laws”
32
It also
has enabled political machines to maintain power in the state even as they have been
weakened in much of the rest of the country.
33
Eliminating the county line primary ballots would not resolve every problem with New
Jersey’s political system. However, it would dramatically rebalance the power away
from the county party chairs and toward the voters, opening opportunities for much
needed reforms.
32
See William E. Schluter, Soft corruption: How unethical conduct undermines good government and what to do
about it. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2017, page 2.
33
See Julia Sass Rubin, Can progressives Change New Jersey? The American Prospect, June 26, 2020,
https://prospect.org/politics/can-progressives-change-new-jersey/ and David Kocieniewski, G.O.P. Says Corzine's
Cash Makes Him the New Boss, The New York Times, Feb. 18, 2005,
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/18/nyregion/gop-says-corzines-cash-makes-him-the-new-boss.html
Figure 1
Elko County, NV 2018 Democratic primary ballot Sussex County, DE 2018 Democratic primary ballot
Figure 2: Monmouth County 2020 Democratic primary ballot
Figure 3: Camden County 2018 Democratic primary ballot
Figure 4: Mercer County 2020 Democratic primary ballot
Figure 5: Atlantic County 2020 Democratic primary ballot
Figure 6: New Jersey incumbent legislators who lost primary while on county line in all counties, 2003-23
Year
Incumbent
Party
Chamber
District
Number
of
Counties
in
District
County
Had county
line
Won County
1
2003
Joseph V. Doria
D
Assembly
31
1
Hudson
Yes
No
2
2003
Elba Perez-
Cinciarelli
D
Assembly
31
1
Hudson
Yes
No
3
2009
Marcia A. Karrow
R
Senate
23
2
Hunterdon
Yes
No
Warren
No (1)
No
(1) Warren County did not use a county line ballot in 2009.
(2) 2003 to 2019 data courtesy of Francisco Diez analysis for CWA.
Figure 7: New Jersey incumbent legislators who won primary after losing at least one county line, 2003-23
Year
Incumbent
Party
Chamber
District
Number
of
Counties
in
District
Won
District?
County
Had county
line
Won County
1
2003
Nia H. Gill
D
34
Senate
2
Yes
Essex
No
Yes
Passaic
No
Yes
2
2007
Ronald L. Rice
D
28
Senate
1
Yes
Essex
No
Yes
3
2007
David C. Russo
R
40
Assembly
3
Yes
Bergen
No
Yes
Essex
Yes
Yes
Passaic
Yes
Yes
4
2017
Samuel D.
Thompson
R
12
Senate
4
Yes
Burlington
No
Yes
Middlesex
No
No
Monmouth
Yes
Yes
Ocean
Yes
Yes
5
2017
Ronald S. Dancer
R
12
Assembly
4
Yes
Burlington
No
Yes
Middlesex
No
Yes
Monmouth
Yes
Yes
Ocean
Yes
Yes
6
2017
Robert D. Clifton
R
12
Assembly
4
Yes
Burlington
No
Yes
Middlesex
No
No
Monmouth
Yes
Yes
Ocean
Yes
Yes
7
2021
Jay Webber
R
26
Assembly
3
Yes
Essex
No (1)
Yes
Morris
Yes
Yes
Passaic
No (1)
Yes
8
2021
Robert Auth
R
39
Assembly
2
Yes
Bergen
Yes
Yes
Passaic
No
No
9
2021
Deanne DeFuccio
R
39
Assembly
2
Yes
Bergen
Yes
Yes
Passaic
No
No
(1) Voters were instructed to vote for two candidates for the Assembly, but only one Assembly candidate (BettyLou DeCroce) appeared on the Essex and Passaic county
lines.
(2) 2003 to 2019 data courtesy of Francisco Diez analysis for CWA
Figure 8: New Jersey incumbent legislators who lost primary after losing at least one county line, 2003-23
Year
Incumbent
Party
Chamber
District
Number
of
Counties
in
District
Won
District?
County
Had county
line
Won County
1
2003
Arline Friscia
D
19
Assembly
1
No
Middlesex
No
No
2
2005
Joseph Azzolina
R
13
Assembly
2
No
Middlesex
Yes
Yes
Monmouth
No
No
3
2005
Anthony Chiappone
D
31
Assembly
1
No
Hudson
No
No
4
2007
Craig A. Stanley
D
28
Assembly
1
No
Essex
No
No
5
2007
Oadline D. Truitt
D
28
Assembly
1
No
Essex
No
No
6
2007
Wilfredo Caraballo
D
29
Assembly
2
No
Essex
No
No
Union
No
No
7
2019
Joe Howarth
R
8
Assembly
3
No
Atlantic
No
No
Burlington
No
No
Camden
No
No
8
2021
Serena Dimaso
R
13
Assembly
1
No
Monmouth
No
No
9
2021
BettyLou DeCroce
R
26
Assembly
3
No
Essex
Yes
Yes
Morris
No
No
Passaic
Yes
Yes
10
2023
Nia H. Gill (1)
D
27
Senate
2
No
Essex
No
No
Passaic
No
No
(1) From January 2002 to January 2024, Senator Nia Gill represented the 34
th
legislative district in the New Jersey State Senate. As of June 2023, the 34
th
district included
parts of Essex and Passaic Counties. Following the 2022 redistricting, Senator Gill’s hometown of Montclair was moved into the 27
th
legislative district. Prior to
redistricting, the 27
th
legislative district included parts of Essex and Morris Counties. After redistricting, the 27
th
district included parts of Essex and Passaic Counties. In
the 2023 primary, Gill ran against another incumbent, Senator Richard Codey, who had represented the 27
th
legislative district prior to redistricting.
(2) 2003 to 2019 data courtesy of Francisco Diez analysis for CWA
Figure 9: New Jersey 3
rd
Congressional District 2020 Republican primary
Gibbs
56
Gibbs
22
Richter
44
Richter
78
Gibbs has county line Richter has county line
Figure 10: Impact of county line, US House & Senate, 2002 – 2022
Year
Candidate
Margin
Contest/Party
Incumbent
2002
Allen
+31
Senate/Republican
No
2002
Forester
+44
Senate/Republican
No
2002
Matheussen
+31
Senate/Republican
No
2006
Sires
+47
CD13/Democrat
No
2006
Vas
+47
CD13/Democrat
No
2008
Kelly
+34
CD3/Republican
No
2008
Myers
+46
CD3/Republican
No
2008
Lance
+42
CD7/Republican
No
2008
Hatfield
+39
CD7/Republican
No
2008
Whitman
+27
CD7/Republican
No
2008
Pennacchio
+27
Senate/Republican
No
2008
Sabrin
+13
Senate/Republican
No
2008
Zimmer
+27
Senate/Republican
No
2008
Andrews
+36
Senate/Democrat
No
2008
Lautenberg
+33
Senate/Democrat
Yes
2012
Shober
+72
CD 2/Democrat
No
2012
Hughes
+79
CD 2/Democrat
No
2012
Little
+24
CD 6/Republican
No
2012
Cullari
+24
CD 6/Republican
No
2012
Pascrell
+64
CD 9/Democrat
Yes, redistricted
2012
Rothman
+64
CD 9/Democrat
Yes, redistricted
2012
Payne
+22
CD 10/Democrat
No
2012
Gill
+36
CD 10/Democrat
No
2014
Watson Coleman
+57
CD 12/Democrat
No
2014
Greenstein
+48
CD 12/Democrat
No
2014
Chivukula
+52
CD 12/Democrat
No
2014
Goldberg
+27
Senate/Republican
No
2014
Pezzullo
+33
Senate/Republican
No
2014
Sabrin
+15
Senate/Republican
No
2016
Keady
+58
CD 3/Democrat
No
2016
Lavergne
+58
CD 3/Democrat
No
2018
Singh
+37
CD 2/Republican
No
2018
Fiocchi
+34
CD 2/Republican
No
2020
Kennedy
+25
CD 2/Democrat
No
2020
Harrison
+20
CD 2/Democrat
No
2020
Schmid
+40
CD 4/Democrat
No
2020
Gibbs
+35
CD 3/Democrat
No
2020
Richter
+35
CD 3/Democrat
No
2020
Mehta
+41
Senate/Republican
No
2020
Singh
+50
Senate/Republican
No
2022
Pallotta
+13
CD 5/Republican
No
2022
De Gregorio
+17
CD 5/Republican
No
2022
Tayfun
+33
CD 11/Republican
No
2022
DeGroot
+38
CD 11/Republican
No
Figure 11:
2008 Democratic primary for US Senate percentage of total vote by candidate**
County
Frank Lautenberg
Robert Andrews
Donald Cresitellow
Atlantic
45%
50%
4%
Bergen
79%
17%
5%
Burlington
42%
52%
6%
Camden
16%
80%
3%
Cape May
45%
50%
5%
Cumberland
46%
47%
6%
Essex
76%
21%
3%
Gloucester
17%
80%
3%
Hudson
75%
22%
4%
Hunterdon
59%
34%
8%
Mercer
74%
22%
4%
Middlesex
62%
29%
9%
Monmouth
66%
22%
11%
Morris
65%
24%
11%
Ocean
58%
33%
9%
Passaic
79%
14%
7%
Salem*
32%
60%
9%
Somerset
65%
25%
10%
Sussex*
53%
30%
17%
Union
68%
28%
5%
Warren*
47%
31%
22%
*Salem, Sussex and Warren counties did not use a county line ballot for the 2008 Democratic
primary
2012 Democratic primary for CD 9 percentage of total vote by candidate**
County
Bill Pascrell
Steve Rothman
Bergen
27%
73%
Hudson
26%
74%
Passaic
90%
10%
**(Vote % of candidate on county line shown in bold)
Figure 12: Contested New Jersey legislative primaries, 2021 and 2023
2021
Assembly
District
Party
Number of
Seats
Challenged
Senate District
Party
10
Rep
2
2
Rep
12
Rep
1
16
Rep
13
Rep
1
18
Dem
16
Dem
1
20
Dem
18
Dem
2
24
Rep
20
Dem
2
28
Dem
21
Rep
1
37
Dem
26
Rep
2
30
Rep
1
37
Dem
2
39
Rep
2
2023
Assembly
District
Party
Number of
Seats
Challenged
Senate District
Party
3
Rep
1
3
Rep
3
Dem
2
3
Dem
4
Rep
2
4
Rep
12
Rep
1
18
Dem
14
Rep
1
19
Dem
20
Dem
2
20
Dem
24
Rep
2
23
Dem
26
Rep
2
26
Rep
27
Dem
2
27
Dem
28
Dem
1
31
Dem
31
Dem
1