By: Zach Blackburn
A new bill would expedite the state’s process for filling a vacancy in the House of Representatives.
The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-South Brunswick), would require the governor to schedule a special election between 70 and 90 days after a new vacancy in the House. The bill would also end primaries for special elections, instead allowing the parties to select a candidate to reach the ballot.
“We figured out what a nuisance it is, quite frankly, and a nightmare it is to fill those congressional seats,” state Sen. John McKeon (D-West Orange), one of the bill’s sponsors, said during a hearing Thursday.
The bill was discussed but not voted on during a hearing of the Senate Government Committee. McKeon said the required timescale would force governors to fill a seat even if it may be disadvantageous to their party.
“In theory, if there’s a Republican governor, and there was a Democratic congressperson who died or couldn’t come in, that governor doesn’t have to call for an election,” McKeon said. “They could keep that seat vacant until the next general election, and they frankly might do that for politics, like if there’s a razor-thin margin and it’s a Democratic seat. Or vice versa.”
McKeon said the use of primaries in special elections needlessly lengthens the process.
“It allows the party infrastructure to pick who the nominee is,” McKeon said. “Think about if this is only like a 10- or 11-month term, they have to go through a primary and then a general election, it’s just silly.”
The bill applies to vacancies that occur before July of the second year of a congressional term.
McKeon noted the issue was especially relevant in New Jersey in 2024.
Two members of the state’s House delegation died last year: Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April and Rep. Bill Pascrell in August. A special election to succeed Payne in the 10th district was held in September, when now-Rep. LaMonica McIver won the seat. No special election was held in the 9th district after Pascrell’s death, and now-Rep. Nellie Pou replaced him on the November ballot.
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