Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey is barred by term limits from running for re-election, and the specter of an open seat has unleashed fierce battles among Democrats and Republicans hoping to succeed him.
Before the general election in November, each party will choose a nominee in a June 10 primary. Mail-in voting began more than a month ago, and early in-person voting starts on Tuesday.
Here’s what you need to know:
Who is running?
Democrats will choose from among six prominent candidates.
They are: Mayor Ras J. Baraka of Newark; Mayor Steven Fulop of Jersey City; Representative Josh Gottheimer, of the state’s Fifth Congressional District; Representative Mikie Sherrill, of the 11th Congressional District; Sean Spiller, the president of the state’s largest teachers’ union, the New Jersey Education Association; and Stephen Sweeney, a former State Senate president.
Mr. Spiller is the only candidate who failed to reach the $580,000 fund-raising threshold necessary to qualify for matching state funds and to participate in debates. He has benefited from an extensive advertising campaign paid for by a super PAC funded by dues contributed by his union’s members.
The Republican race features three prominent candidates: State Senator Jon M. Bramnick; Jack Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman; and Bill Spadea, a longtime radio host. Mario M. Kranjac, a former mayor of Englewood Cliffs; and Justin Barbera, a contractor, are also running.
Each party held two state-sponsored debates. All were streamed live and can be viewed online.
Early machine voting
To cast a primary ballot, voters must be registered as a Democrat or Republican, or be prepared to declare a party affiliation. Voters can determine if they are already registered to vote by checking the state’s elections website.
More than 249,000 ballots had been cast by mail or in secure drop-boxes as of Friday, according to a tally by an elections researcher for The Associated Press, Ryan Dubicki.
Voters can cast ballots in person at sites in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties from Tuesday, June 3, through Sunday, June 8. The early voting sites will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. No appointments are needed.
A list of each county’s designated early voting locations is available on the state website. (In many cases, this location will differ from a voter’s Election Day polling site.)
Bellwether elections
New Jersey and Virginia are the only states with elections for governor the year after a presidential contest. The races are often seen as early indicators of voter sentiment leading into the midterm elections the following year that determine which party controls Congress.
In New Jersey, the candidates competing for their party’s nominations have presented starkly different views and policy plans.
Primary voter turnout, and who wins each party’s nomination, will be analyzed for clues about the issues that appear to be motivating voters most, five months after President Trump began his second term.
‘The line’ is dead
This is the first time in decades when the Democratic and Republican nominees in the state will be selected without what was known as the county line.
The so-called line was a prominent column on primary ballots. The names of all the candidates preferred by each county’s Democratic and Republican leaders appeared there, creating a visual alignment that studies show essentially guaranteed victory.
The names of unendorsed candidates appeared off to the side, frequently separated by large gaps of white space, in what became known as “ballot Siberia.”
Because of its potency, the line was an effective way of ensuring fealty among candidates to a small number of powerful party leaders. It also helped to block upstarts from entering politics.
After a series of lawsuits, a federal judge ordered that the ballot’s design be revised, leading the State Legislature to craft new ballot design rules.
The line’s absence has led to extraordinarily competitive primaries, and no prominent candidate for either party has dropped out early after failing to win backing from local party bosses, something that was common in past elections.
Campaign spending
Spending in the race has already reached record levels.
Together, candidates for governor have raised at least $59 million, according to campaign filings available last week, and have spent more than $43 million. By comparison, eight years ago, when there was an open seat, candidates for governor spent $35 million on primary races.
A state matching-fund program, established to level the playing field, has distributed $37.1 million to the eight candidates who qualified this year.
Spending by so-called independent expenditure groups, or super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited sums of money but are barred from directly coordinating with campaigns, has also hit new heights.
Tracey Tully is a reporter for The Times who covers New Jersey, where she has lived for more than 20 years.
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