Four Republican candidates filed to run for governor of New Jersey ahead of the April 5 filing deadline. Jack Ciattarelli, Brian Levine, Philip Rizzo, and Hirsh Singh will compete in the June 8 primary election for their party’s nomination. The general election will take place on Nov. 2. Ciattarelli and Singh both ran for governor…
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) announced on March 15 that he would nominate Rachel Wainer Apter to the New Jersey Supreme Court. She will replace Justice Jaynee LaVecchia, who is retiring on Aug. 31. Wainer Apter has served as a director with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, a counsel to the New…
New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Jaynee LaVecchia scheduled her retirement for August 31, 2021. LaVecchia’s replacement will be Governor Phil Murphy’s (D) second nominee to the seven-member supreme court. Under New Jersey law, when a vacancy occurs, justices of the New Jersey Supreme Court are nominated by the governor. One week after the public notice…
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the two states conducting regular state-level elections in 2021—New Jersey and Virginia—have both made temporary modifications to their candidate ballot access procedures. Ballot access procedures dictate whether a candidate or political party will appear on an election ballot. These laws are implemented and enforced at the state level.…
A recent Ballotpedia study on state supreme courts revealed that of the seven justices on the New Jersey Supreme Court as of June 2020: Two justices had some level of affiliation with the Democratic party Four justices had a Republican affiliation One justice had an indeterminate partisan affiliation. In “Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship”, we gathered…
New Jersey Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R) passed away on Feb. 20, after being hospitalized with an illness unrelated to COVID-19. The second-longest-serving New Jersey legislator, Cardinale was first elected to Senate District 39 in 1981, serving until his death. Prior to joining the state Senate, Cardinale was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly…
New Jersey became the first state to implement a statewide mask order in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on April 10, 2020. Seven other states implemented mask orders later in April 2020 and, in total, 39 states have issued statewide mask requirements at some point during the pandemic. In recent weeks, states have begun…
Incumbent Tom Malinowski (D) defeated challenger Thomas Kean Jr. (R) in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District. Malinowski was first elected in 2018, when he defeated incumbent Leonard Lance (R) 52% to 47%, becoming the first Democrat to win election in the district since 1978. Preliminary returns suggest Malinowski expanded on his 2018 margin this year,…
Incumbent Jeff Van Drew (R) defeated Amy Kennedy (D) in the general election for New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District. Van Drew was first elected in 2018 as a Democrat after defeating Seth Grossman (R) 53% to 45%. Van Drew succeeded Frank LoBiondo (R), who held the seat from 1995 until his retirement in 2019. In…