Dead Democrat Wins House Primary Race in New Jersey

I will never understand election laws that do not allow a candidate to be replaced if they are deceased within a reasonable amount of time.

In this case, the late Rep. Donald Payne Jr. died on April 24, which was after the filing deadline had passed.

Even though it was weeks before the election, Payne was left on the ballot, and he ended up winning his primary race.

Ridiculousness

Payne passed on April 24 after suffering a heart attack.

New Jersey election laws do not allow him to be removed from the ballot after the election deadline, so this was an exercise in futility for voters.

Payne is a deep blue district, so there is no thought of the GOP being able to take this seat, but now a special election has to be ordered since Payne can obviously not defend his seat.

The special primary election will be held on July 16, which will be followed by a special general election on September 18 to finish out Payne’s term.

Then Democrat committee members in the district have to meet to select a replacement for Payne in the general election in November.

The special election primary is going to be a packed field, with 11 Democrats having already announced.

There is one Republican filed for the special election, but considering a Republican has not won this district since the 1940s, there is not much hope to flip the seat.

Common sense would say that the winner of the special election primary should be selected to run in the general election, but common sense is something our political world is horribly short on these days.

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