Early voting begins Wednesday as House, Senate primaries loom

New Jersey voters will begin casting machine votes in June’s primaries when early voting begins Wednesday, but it remains to be seen whether the practice meaningfully impacts the state’s congressional races.

Despite a federal court order barring the use of county lines in this year’s Democratic primaries, few of the state’s races are expected to be highly competitive. Marquee contests in the 3rd and 8th congressional districts are expected to be close, but early voting isn’t likely to play a significant role in those races.

“Early voting in New Jersey, for the most part, has been cannibalized by mail voting,” said Dan Cassino, director of Fairleigh Dickinson University’s poll. “The people who want to vote early, who don’t want to show up at the polls, who want to a more convenient way are doing it by mail, and we’re just not getting a lot of uptake in early voting.”

In the 8th District’s Democratic primary, Rep. Rob Menendez faces a challenge from Hoboken mayor Ravi Bhalla as the congressman’s father, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, faces trial on charges of bribery and acting as a foreign agent.

Hudson Democrats have stuck with the incumbent, though the potency of their support absent county lines remains untested. Bhalla’s candidacy also represents a rarity in New Jersey primaries, Cassino said, because he’s a “high-quality challenger.”

“When we have a high-quality challenger like Andy Kim or like Ravi Bhalla, the line and institutional support might not matter nearly as much,” he said.

Farther south in the 3rd District, Assemblyman Herb Conaway and Assemblywoman Carol Murphy, Burlington County Democrats both, are facing off in the contest to replace Andy Kim, that district’s congressman. Kim is running for the elder Menendez’s Senate seat and is considered the favorite since first lady Tammy Murphy’s withdrawal from the race.

Three others — civil rights attorney Joe Cohn, small business owner Sarah Schoengood, and teacher Brian Schkeeper — are also seeking the Democratic nod.

Though early voting turnout has paled in comparison to mail voting since its introduction in 2021’s general election, the practice could afford Republicans an avenue to get votes banked before Election Day, Cassino said.

The party’s rank-and-file has remained resistant to mail voting despite efforts to warm them to the practice, which some party operatives say is key for New Jersey Republicans’ electoral hopes. National GOP leaders, like former President Donald Trump, have done little to assure their voters about the reliability of mail voting.

“Early voting is something we are seeing Republicans try and focus on a little more to try to encourage early voting because it’s in-person voting, so they think their voters will like it more and therefore they can bank those votes early,” Cassino said.

County lines remain in effect for this year’s Republican primaries in all counties that normally use them except for Burlington. There, County Clerk Joann Schwartz will print office-block ballots, which group candidates by the office they are seeking instead of by which won the endorsement of county party leaders.

That means few of the state’s GOP races for federal office will be especially competitive, though Republicans vying for the nomination for Menendez’s Senate seat could see a tight race.

In that contest, hotelier Curtis Bashaw and Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner are vying for their party’s nod. Bashaw has received county lines in 13 counties, including Ocean County, the largest single source of GOP primary votes, while Serrano Glassner has six lines and an endorsement from Trump.

Former Tabernacle Deputy Mayor Justin Murphy and Navy veteran Albert Harshaw are also in the race.

Whoever emerges from that primary faces an uphill climb to a November victory. New Jersey hasn’t elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate since 1972.

This year’s primaries will be only the third to see early in-person voting, and they are the first to see an extended five-day early voting period provided for elections that include a presidential primary. Typically, primary early voting lasts only three days.

A separate law Gov. Phil Murphy signed in January that would allow 17-year-olds to vote in primaries if they turn 18 by the next general election will not be in effect for this year’s primaries. That law is set to take effect in January.