A Democratic candidate for Mikie Sherrill’s congressional seat wants a Superior Court judge to delay the December 1 filing deadline for the special primary election because the ten-day window over the Thanksgiving holiday put some of the candidates at a disadvantage.
Former Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello, who joined the race today, filed an emergent order to show cause seeking to restrain the Division of Elections from enforcing the deadline and to declare it unconstitutional.
Cresitello argues that the expedited timeline favors Gov. Phil Murphy’s preferred candidate, Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill. Murphy endorsed Gill before issuing the writ of special election that set the filing deadline and a February 5 primary.
Gill has been organizing his congressional campaign for weeks, giving him a substantial structural advantage in gathering signatures during the ten-day window.
He says the compressed deadline creates an “unconstitutional and inequitable burden on ballot access.”
According to Cresitello, a signature collection period that includes Thanksgiving and the busy travel days before and after the holiday would “irreparably deprive him of the opportunity to appear on the ballot and would deny NJ-11 voters an open and competitive primary.”
“The deadline is arbitrary, unreasonable, and discriminatory as applied,” Cresitello said in a court filing. “The December 1 deadline provides no meaningful transition period or opportunity for non-machine candidates to mobilize the volunteers or field operations required to collect 500 signatures.”
