Are you sure about the deadline having been past? I'm not so sure.
That was a joke, son, a joke ( in best Foghorn Leghorn voice). In NJ deadlines mean nothing when the RATS want to do something different.
You're right. Under New Jersey law, candidates may not be replaced on the ballot with less than 51 days before the election. It's 55 days now. So the deadline expires this Sunday.
Menendez will not be replaced before Sunday, but I'll betcha he's not on the ballot in November.