[dead]

If there's a special this November, the "party elders" (insert Sopranos joke here) get to pick the candidates for each side.

Absolutely incorrect.

If there is a special election, there will be primaries in both parties.

Schundler is ready.

[BroncosFan]

Sorry, you're wrong. See this excerpt from Steve Kornacki's article today on the front page of www.politicsnj.com:

For a special election, the GOP nominee would be selected by the 42 GOP state committee members-two from each county. Asked whom the state committee might tap, the Republican said: “Unless somebody really comes out of the woodwork, it’s going to be one of the names out there (for the ’05 race). It’ll help to have someone who has some money or a bankroll, so that could be a factor with some people.” The Republican said the state committee vote would probably be unpredictable, but that former Jersey City Mayor Bret S. Schundler, who lost by fourteen points as the GOP’s 2001 gubernatorial nominee, would have little chance of emerging as the candidate.