N.J. Dem leaders advised on Saturday that they can present a formal proposal
By David Wildstein, June 11 2022 8:20 pm
New Jersey is still in the running to get one of the early presidential primary elections in 2024.
The Democratic National Committee advised state party officials on Saturday that New Jersey will move on to the next round and have been invited to present a formal proposal to their rules and bylaws committee, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.
Democratic State Chairman LeRoy Jones, Jr. entered New Jersey into the primary sweepstakes in March when wrote to the Democratic national chairman, Jaime Harrison, and asked for his state to be considered.
“It is time for the Democratic Party to move boldly into the future with a presidential primary calendar that reflects the diversity of our party and nation,” Jones wrote. “Let’s make New Jersey one of the first primary states and set up future Democratic Party presidential nominees for long-term success.
A majority of New Jerseyans support moving the 2024 presidential primary from June to February in order to be among the first in the nation and expand the state’s influence in the presidential nomination process, according to a Monmouth University Poll released in April.
The poll puts support for the primary date move at 52%-34%, the poll shows.
“A shake-up of the nation’s presidential primary calendar is long overdue,” said the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, Patrick Murray. “New Jersey’s Democratic leadership has put in a bid to be among the first contests and most of the party’s rank-and-file are on board with that.”
New Jersey has a vote on the rules and bylaws committee: Tonio Burgos, a longtime Democratic National Committeeman.
Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, which have led the primary calendar in recent years, remain on the list.
A tweet from New York Times reporter Katie Glueck listed thirteen other states still in contention: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia. Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington, as well as Puerto Rico.
Just New York and Nebraska were eliminated, Glueck noted.
If New Jersey moves the 2024 presidential primary to earlier in the cycle, there would be no organization lines for the stand-alone contest. Organization lines only exist in primaries where countywide candidates are running.
The final decision on when to hold any New Jersey primary is up to the state legislature and Murphy, who must set the date through legislation.
State Sen. and former Gov. Richard Codey (D-Roseland) has said he plans to introduce legislation moving the state’s primary forward. But if New Jersey were to hold an early presidential primary without the national party’s blessing, its vote could be nullified, so the actual decision will ultimately rest with the Democratic Party organization.