The campaign of Sen. Barbara Buono, the presumptive Democratic candidate for governor, criticized Gov. Chris Christie’s decision Tuesday to hold a special election in October to replace Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who died on Monday.
“Earlier this year, the Governor cited money as to why he vetoed early voting. However, despite costing millions of dollars, Governor Christie made the cynical and arrogant decision to call a special election in October,” Buono said in a statement.
“His choice made it clear that he does not care about wasting taxpayer money. Moreover, by holding two elections within weeks of each other, the Governor will needlessly disenfranchise voters. He should change his decision and hold the election on November 5.”
Earlier, the state’s top Senate lawmaker joined the ranks of fellow Democrats criticizing Christie on his timeline for a special election.
Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3) suggested Christie is not being “rational” with his decision to have an October special election decide who to succeed former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.
The governor announced the timeline for a special election during an afternoon news conference Tuesday. Since then, Democrats have begun hammering the governor for opting to spend roughly $24 million on a special election instead of sharing the ballot with a Senate contender in November.
“I appreciate that the governor heeded my call, and that of others, to ensure that the voters of New Jersey will get a chance this year to decide who will represent them in the Senate. Waiting 17 months to allow the public to have their say simply wasn’t an option,” Sweeney said.
“That being said, it certainly would have been more rational to hold the election in November instead of October,” he added.
Following news of Lautenberg’s death Monday, Sweeney called on Christie to let voters decide sooner than later who will replace the long-serving senator.
