[StarFan]

Can anyone tell me why the Torch (for the sake of the party he holds so near and dear) didn't resign and avoid the legal maneuvering that will ensue? Had he done so, I believe McGreesy would have appointed someone to replace him and wait a full year before holding a special election (or at least that's how I interpreted Judge Napolitano's reading of the law).

[NeoCaveman]

Can anyone tell me why the Torch (for the sake of the party he holds so near and dear) didn't resign and avoid the legal maneuvering that will ensue?

1. Ego
2. Senatorial retirement fund
3. Spite

[Diddle E. Squat]

Sounds like Judge Neopolitico may be wrong on the 1 year election delay.

Then again, it seems like that NJ statute that is being cited over and over conflicts with the Constitution. So in theory the Dems could invoke it. Ultimately it would be shot down by the USSC, but perhaps if the Democrats know that they are going to lose this seat, they'll do as much damage as possible. I can just hear all their ignorant sycophants citing this passage over and over on TV, and using the terms 'unfair' and 'disenfranchised'.

[Congressman Billybob]

The Judge said no such thing. NO ONE, EVER, can postpone a Senate election, because the day for holding them is specified in the Constitution. The New Jersey law that folks are repeatedly quoting, only legitimately applies when the Senator who dies has more than two years left on his/her term at that point.

It is easy to read the NJ statute as allowing the Governor to act that way ANYTIME a Senator dies, resigns, whatever. But even a NJ Court recognizes that NJ law cannot be read to violate a specific provision of the US Constitution. Remember the Chief Judge of the Florida Supreme Court who warned his colleagues that the US Supreme Court would not let their decision stand?

From what I know of the NJ Court, they have less fire-breathing liberals than the Florida Court. Also, they will be MORE mindful of the embarrassment of being b*tch-slapped by the US SC if they attempt to violate the US Constitution.

The only real legal question here is whether the NJ SC will attempt to violate NJ law and allow the Dems to substitute a new candidate AFTER the deadline to do so has passed. The reasoning they applied, in their only known exception, involved a candidate who died before his primary, but won anyway. It does NOT apply to the Torricelli situation, since he is only politically dead.

Be sure to check the third link below. I wrote about this situation BEFORE it happened.

Congressman Billybob

Click for "Til Death Do Us Part."

Click for "to Restore Trust in America"

Click for "Death as a Political Strategy"