NJ Dems Fight To Force Lautenberg Special Election to Coincide With November Elections
By David Madden
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) -- The fight over the date of a special election to fill the unexpired term the late US senator Frank Lautenberg is going to New Jersey's highest court.
Democrats who wants the vote to coincide with the November general election but were rebuffed yesterday by a three-judge panel (see related story) have until Monday morning to file briefs with the state Supreme Court.
"It's clearly something the (state) Supreme Court wants to weigh in on," says attorney Peg Schaffer, also heads up the Somerset County Democratic Party. "We can't draw any conclusions from that other than that they think it's a matter of great public importance and they're going to pay attention to it."
The Christie administration's response has to be in by Tuesday morning.
No one is disputing the August 13th statewide primary (see related story), but the scheduled special election on October 16th provides inadequate time, according to Schaffer, to handle things prior to the regularly scheduled November 5th vote, where Christie's reelection now tops the ballot.
