For the first time in decades, New Jersey candidates do not have to secure endorsements from county parties to have a shot at winning their primary. And for the first time in nearly a century, New Jersey has a competitive gubernatorial primary.
For decades, 19 of New Jersey’s 21 counties used the “county-line” ballot system. The county line placed party-backed candidates in one row or column with other candidates placed somewhere else on the ballot in what is sometimes called “ballot Siberia.” Studies confirmed that candidates highlighted in the county line are more likely to be elected.
“Political candidates who fail to secure the endorsement of these party bosses and political machines have virtually no chance of winning an election,” a report on the county line from Rutgers University read.
How the line went away
The county line made headlines last year when now-Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) filed a lawsuit against 19 county clerks over the county line system during the 2024 Senate primary.
In April 2024, U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi issued a temporary order to suspend the use of the county line for the 2024 Democratic primary.
Nothing in New Jersey’s constitution or any law required the use of the line. It was simply a choice made each election cycle by county officials about how to structure their ballots.
Most of the county clerks named in the suit have since settled and agreed not to use the county line when designing their ballots. Bergen and Union counties, however, have refused to settle. The Camden County Democratic Committee has been the cause of some of the most outstanding versions of the county line ballot and has backed Bergen and Union counties in court.
In March, Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) signed legislation to codify the state’s move to overhaul its primary ballots without the county line.
“The bill definitely isn’t perfect. It can and should be better, but it is the best the ballot has been since the death of the county line,” Nuzhat Chowdhury, director of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice’s democracy and justice program, said at the time.
Some county clerks previously told the Washington Examiner they would return to the line if the courts allowed them to.
“I will continue on with the county line unless I’m directed otherwise, because the county line, to me, is the law right now,” Hunterdon County Clerk Mary Melfi said in September before Murphy greenlit the law.
“If you’re running for commissioner and I’m running for county clerk, I think the voter needs to identify that we have the same principles and the same ideas,” she said, adding, “It’s my right to associate.”
The 2025 race
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) has emerged as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for governor, per her internal polling. But Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka are hot on her trail.
Sherrill has support from some of the most powerful Democratic organizations in the state, including Essex and Middlesex counties. If the county line were still in play, she would be the state’s overwhelming favorite.
On the Republican side, former state Rep. Jack Ciattarelli, who ran for governor in 2021 and came within 3 points of beating Murphy, appears to be the front-runner. President Donald Trump gave Ciattarelli his “Complete and Total Endorsement” in the race.
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Bill Spadea, a Make America Great Again-aligned radio host, had been competing with Ciattarelli for Trump’s endorsement.
Save for Ocean County, which is the most Republican-leaning in the state as of 2024 and has backed Spadea, all county Republican parties are putting their weight behind Ciatterelli’s campaign.
