Republicans and Democrats spent much of the day contemplating life after U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who passed away Monday morning of pneumonia.
Both sides were attempting to interpret the myriad laws governing the secession to determine who would take Lautenberg’s place in the upper chamber and perhaps more importantly, when.
Both parties debated whether Christie must, could or should call a special election this fall to replace Lautenberg, or whether his successor could stay on until 2014, giving the handpicked choice as much as 17 months to ramp up for the contest.
After all, the political considerations are enormous as Democrat Cory Booker, who before Monday was the front runner to assume the seat when Lautenberg retired next year, will no doubt be on the ballot when the election is called. Putting the Senate seat on the November ballot, as some interpretations of the law say Christie must do, would put Booker at the top of the Democratic ticket that currently features Christie’s opponent, state Sen. Barbara Buono, who trails the Republican badly in the polls.
That situation is not an ideal one for the Christie camp, said one Republican source.
“He doesn’t want Booker on the ticket driving the Democratic vote,” the source said.
But an interesting scenario has emerged that could put Booker or another candidate in the Senate seat this fall and spare Christie an energized electorate come November.
New Jersey statute 19:27-6 allows the governor to call for a special election prior to the November general election. The statute stipulates that once he calls the election, a primary must take place no less than 70 days and no more than 76 days from the day the governor makes the call.
Assuming he makes that call this week, that puts the primary in August between the 16th and 20th. The special election would then be held sometime between Oct. 23 and 29.
In an opinion issued earlier Monday and obtained by PolitickerNJ, the state non-partisan Office of Legislative Services outlined the October possibility.
That scenario would put the successor in office at least a week before Christie and Buono square off on Nov. 5 and take Booker out of the equation entirely.
At least one source said an October election would be second on Christie’s list of possibilities behind a November 2014 election, however, it is likely that the court will decide the ultimate day Lautenberg’s successor is chosen.
A second OLS opinion issued Monday said the statewide contest could cost the state as much as $12 million, which will no doubt be a consideration for the governor and the courts.
