I still for the life of me can’t understand how Menendez didn’t face a serious primary- he’s by far the worst parody of a senator
New Jersey might be the most difficult state to primary an incumbent in, thanks to the county-party system and its on-ballot endorsements.
Menendez will win no matter what he does, lol. Safe D.
Seems unlikely if he drops out (or dies).
What is it about the county party system that makes it difficult to primary someone? Lisa McCormick primaried Menendez and got close to 40 percent
The county parties endorse candidates and those candidates get first billing on the ballot. Check out the House races – literally every candidate whose endorsements accounted for a majority of their district's votes won. In fact, I think only one or two portions of counties even voted for non-endorsed candidates.
It matters less in races with high name ID, but McCormick probably could've gotten the race down to low double digits at worst if Menendez didn't have "Democratic Party Organization" next to his name on every ballot.
