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Race For The Presidency
Winning the 2008 Nomination
By Rhodes Cook |
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Long an afterthought in nominating politics, New Jersey has moved its presidential primary from June to Feb. 5 and is therefore poised to have its most significant contest in a generation. the New Jersey primary will test whether the two prominent New York candidates, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Rudolph Giuliani, will be treated as favorite daughter and favorite son on the west side of the Hudson. If so, the Garden State primary would provide a particularly big prize for Giuliani (or whoever wins the GOP voting), as Republican delegates are to be awarded on a winner-take-all basis.
Participation in the primary is open to registered voters in each party as well as independents (called "unaffiliated" in New Jersey). As of June 2007, there were 4,810,437 registered voters in New Jersey—1,138,131 Democrats, 867,642 Republicans, 2,803,187 independents, and 1,477 third-party voters.
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DEMOCRATS |
REPUBLICANS |
| THE CALENDAR |
Primary Date
(polling hours) |
Feb. 5
(6 a.m.-8 p.m.) |
Feb. 5
(6 a.m.-8 p.m.) |
| Filing Deadline |
Dec. 10, 2007 |
Dec. 10, 2007 |
| Filing Procedure |
Candidates must submit to the state division of elections petitions signed by at least 1,000 registered voters of their party or who intend to affiliate with their party. |
| THE DELEGATES |
| Number (% of national total) |
127 (2.9%) |
52 (2.2%) |
| Distribution: |
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By district |
70 (by paired legislative district; |
39 (3 per district) number per district not set) |
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At-Large |
23 |
10 |
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Pledged PEOs |
14 |
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RNC members |
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3 |
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Superdelegates |
20 |
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| Method of Allocation |
Proportional—15% of vote needed to win a share of statewide or district delegates. |
Winner-take-all—statewide winner takes all the at-large and district delegates. |
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