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The ballot issue isn't nearly as big a deal as the money, organization, and get out the vote operation that would come with a coordinated campaign between Buono for Governor and _________ for Senate. I agree, all things equal, a Democratic Senate candidate's name above Buono's is not going to help that much. However, a well funded Democratic Senate candidate with a good ground game, organizational support in key areas of the state, and a well run get out the vote operation that will turn Democratic voters out on election day (Phone banking, knocking on doors, giving rides to the polls, etc...), that could potentially make a huge difference, because anyone who goes to the polls for the Democratic Senate candidate is presumably going to vote for Buono as well. That was what Christie was worried about.
Exactly how much money time and effort do you think the Dems are going to put into a Senate race in NJ for a seat that has been Dem for decades? I think the smallest margin of victory for a Dem Senator in NJ is on the order of around 15 points. Sure it would help Buono, but nowhere near enough to overcome her deficit to Christie who is popular enough to poll strongly even among Democrats.
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Originally Posted by bradykp
this is mind boggling. so he can't designate the special election to happen the same day as the general election, and still call it a special election? then all the administrative costs of setting up, staffing, and breaking down an election day would already be covered.
am i just being too creative, or you can't hold a "special election" the same day as a "general election"?
You cannot hold a special election the same day as a general election and there is a certain amount of time that the two need to be separated by to give all of the election officials time to organize.
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Originally Posted by bradykp
i agree with you on letting the voters choose, but I don't give Christie as much credit as you do. Especially given his comments in 2009 about special elections. Maybe they were in a different context, but he said what he said.
He said what he said and he was foolish for saying it without an "it depends on the exact situation". Given the situation, I don't think he made the wrong call. It was either special election with a primary or general election this year with no primary. Yes the special election is slightly more advantageous to Christie, but it is to voters as well.
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In any case, I think we should address a couple of things:
Change our odd year elections to the even years when they are already occurring - to save the state money. (maybe this would be complicated the first time around, but it should be done).
That would require a constitutional amendment and a sitting governor would either end up losing a year in office or gaining a year in office.
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Change this law that prohibits a special election from being held the same day as a general election. I don't know the origins and thought behind it, but surely it's not that difficult to see how absurd it is to have a primary in June, a special primary, an election in October, and an election in November - all in the same year.
Maybe these changes create other problems that I haven't thought of, but it seems like the current way of doing things is outdated.
I think you can fix it all by just clarifying the exact rules about how vacancies are filled and when the election is. Take it out of the hands of any one person to decide beyond the governor picking a specific person, but even then I think there should be rules such as the person must be from the same party as the person vacating the office.
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Originally Posted by bradykp
that's not fair. We all know Democrats are secularist a-holes and Jesus being on the ticket would do nothing to draw more of them to the polls. I mean, Yoga is satanic, after all.
Exactly how much money time and effort do you think the Dems are going to put into a Senate race in NJ for a seat that has been Dem for decades? I think the smallest margin of victory for a Dem Senator in NJ is on the order of around 15 points. Sure it would help Buono, but nowhere near enough to overcome her deficit to Christie who is popular enough to poll strongly even among Democrats.
I'm not saying it would change the outcome, but it clearly made Christie do what he did for a little insurance. I was more making the point that it was simply the ballot issue-it's everything else that goes into a coordinated campaign. Bob Menendez spent about $8 million in 2012 against Kyrillos even though, like you said, the chance of Kyrillos winning was slim in the first place.
As per the Bergen Record - not exactly a bastion of right-wing loyalty - Stewart took the 'juicy' quote out of context:
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Christie, a Republican who is seeking a second term, made that remark as governor-elect in 2009 in response to legislation Assemblyman John McKeon, D-Essex, proposed that would have eliminated the special election option and required the governor to select an appointee from the same party as the person who was holding the seat.
“It was very funny,†Christie said of Stewart’s bit. “I saw it, it was hysterical, but it has no relationship to the truth in the context of what we were discussing at the time.â€
Christie said he was criticizing McKeon, who said his bill was intended to save the state money by eliminating special elections, and that’s clear in the context of his full remarks.
“Governor Corzine did not complain, nor did members of the Legislature complain, when Governor Corzine used the exact system that is in place today to appoint his replacement,†Christie said in 2009. “You know this whole fallacy of ‘it’s going to save money,’ well Jon Corzine replaced himself and didn’t feel the need to call for a special election and I don’t think any responsible governor at this point would call for a special election that would cost $10 million in light of what I said before. It’s garbage.â€
probably. and this is another case where i wish there was an emoticon of banging my head against a brick wall. I'd like to see someone suggest fixing these laws, whether it can be done in time for this instance or not, it should be fixed.
Not a fan of this move at all. Should have just appointed someone through 2014 and been done with it.
Yes he should have a nice Republican that in time people would have gotton to know and possibly liked and voted for again! Like I said if he appointed a good R , people would have great time to get to know the person and may have just voted for him!!! He had a good chance at this and blew it!
Ten New Jersey organizations filed court papers backing a challenge to the decision by Republican Governor Chris Christie to hold a special election on Oct. 16 to replace U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, who died last week.
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