Posted on 09/30/2002 12:58:59 PM PDT by FlameThrower
19:3-26. Vacancies in United States senate; election to fill; temporary appointment by governor
If a vacancy shall happen in the representation of this state in the United States senate, it shall be filled at the general election next succeeding the happening thereof, unless such vacancy shall happen within thirty days next preceding such election, in which case it shall be filled by election at the second succeeding general election, unless the governor of this state shall deem it advisable to call a special election therefor, which he is authorized hereby to do.
The governor of this state may make a temporary appointment of a senator of the United States from this state whenever a vacancy shall occur by reason of any cause other than the expiration of the term; and such appointee shall serve as such senator until a special election or general election shall have been held pursuant to law and the board of state canvassers can deliver to his successor a certificate of election.
************************************
The NJ Dems cannot appoint a new candidate within 48 days of the election by State law. So the strategy will be to use the foregoing provision to accomplish the same thing. But does it work?
No.
If Torch resigns from the Senate now, more than 30 days from the election, then the election to fill the term shall be held at that general election. If he waits, then the election to fill the term shall be held two years from now.
NOTE that the election to be held is to fill the term, not to elect the a Senator for the upcoming term. The Torch's term expires in January 2003. If the Dems want to hold an election to fill the seat between the election and a month or so following, let them! The Republicans are waging an election to fill the six year term that starts in January 2003. They will be unopposed.
Of course, we are talking about a Democrat, and especially corrupt one at that, so what does a pledge mean anyway? The Dems just get more loathsome every election.
After sifting through various threads, the following conclusions seem pretty clear to me:
Torricelli's name cannot be removed from or replaced on the ballot. It is past the 51-day deadline, and some military ballots have already been printed and sent out. Any attempt to circumvent this hard deadline will absolutely be swatted down in court.
It is irrelevant whether or not Torricelli resigns. There are all kinds of legal reasons that require the Senatorial election to proceed in November, and the winner of that election to become Senator for the next six years. All the hysteria about postponed elections or special elections is bullsh!t; it can't happen. If Torricelli resigns, the governor would merely appoint another Democrat to fill out the remainder of the current term till January -- that is it.
A write-in campaign is possible. With a high-profile candidate (like Bill Clinton?) and the incredible amount of publicity thereby generated, there is a slight chance of it succeeding. But not much of a chance, since the Torch's name would remain on the ballot, and too many Democrats would still vote for him. Write-in campaigns are incredibly difficult and expensive.
The Torch could promise to resign if re-elected, so a designated replacement Democrat could be appointed. He'd have to convince people that he could be trusted to keep his word about resigning. This is probably the Democrat's best hope, but it is pretty weak.
The Torch could try to regain momentum. After the courts rule that his name must remain on the ballot, he'll tell the voters that he tried to do the right thing and sacrifice himself for the good of the nation, but the evil Republicans prevented it. So he has no choice but to fight on, and the voters should refocus on the larger issue (Democrat control of the Senate) and come home to re-elect him. This is the most likely scenario, since none of the others work very well, but I doubt it will turn around his poll numbers.
Bottom line: The Torch is toast, and the Republicans pick up a Senate seat.
Right! But Torch ran because he thought he could get away with this --- just like BJ Clinton. Demon-crats have a habit of making messes out of their own ethical problems and malfeasance. When will they learn???
Forrester needs to campaign TWICE AS HARD now, and get out a POSITIVE message to innoculate against any shenanigans like a write-in or gaming the ballot... If the Dems see they cant knock him off, they'll give up the ghost on this.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.