High court stays out of N.J. Senate race (Cease, The Fed Dist Cases Are Trivial)

COX News ^ | 10/8/02 | Daniella Aird

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

WASHINGTON -- The U. S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a challenge to a state court ruling that allowed New Jersey Democrats to switch their senatorial candidate one month before the election.

The state supreme court agreed unanimously last week to allow Democrats to replace Sen. Robert Torricelli with former Sen. Frank Lautenberg on the Nov. 5 ballot.

"I call on the Republican Party to cease all other legal proceedings," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "The cases they have brought before the U.S. Federal District court are frivolous. It's time to allow the voters of New Jersey to be heard. They will decide who will represent them."

Republicans last week appealed to the high court, arguing the last-minute ballot change was unconstitutional and merely an attempt to replace a losing candidate.

"Political parties will be encouraged to withdraw losing candidates on the eve of election, replacing them with candidates who have not gone through the rigors of the nomination process in hopes of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat," Republicans stated in a court filing last Thursday.

Torricelli resigned from his re-election race after polls showed he was losing to Republican challenger Douglas Forrester.

Torricelli, who was admonished by the Senate ethics committee this summer for taking lavish gifts from a contributor to his 1996 campaign, said he feared he would cost the Democrats control of the Senate, where they hold a one-seat majority.

Republican National Committed spokesman Dan Ronayne said he hoped New Jersey voters "will have an opportunity to properly contrast these two candidates during this very brief campaign."

He added that according to state law, a candidate's name can't be taken off the ballot so close to an election.

""Removing a candidate from the ballot for the sole reason that he's losing is terrible," Ronayne said. "There was nothing legal or physical that prevented (Torricelli) from continuing in the election. He made it very clear that his decision (not to run) was purely a political one."

In a statement, Forrester said, "This election is now a contest between .. those who seek to ... improve the lives of every New Jerseyan and a few elite party bosses who will do whatever is necessary to keep their grip on power."

The Supreme Court didn't comment on why it rejected the appeal.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said the high court may not have wanted to "get back into political thicket" so soon after intervening in the close 2000 presidential race between President George Bush and Al Gore.

"The (justices) had enough of Bush v. Gore and if they got involved in this case, it would have put them right back in the middle of partisan politics entirely too soon," he said.

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

WIPE THE SMILE OFF THIS LEFTIST'S FACE!
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[holyscroller]

""I call on the Republican Party to cease all other legal proceedings," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "The cases they have brought before the U.S. Federal District court are frivolous."

Patty Murray is a brainless twit. Unfortunately, being a Washingtonian, she's MY brainless twit. Her handlers have gotten her out of her tennis shoes, cleaned her up, styled her hair and given her a facelift. Unfortunately, they still haven't given her a brain transplant.

[mwl1]

I hate Patty Murray. In fact, just out of meanness I called her office to tell them that I was an undecided voter who happened to catch her recent presentation at the National Press Club. As a consequence of her presentation, I told them, I decided to vote straight Republican, from US Senator to dogcatcher.

It wasn't a very nice thing to do to the unfortunate staffer, but it made me feel better, and if you work for RATS, you deserve to be treated like crap.