Oct 2, 2002 4 min read

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – Democrats desperate to keep their single-seat majority in the Senate scrambled Tuesday to come up with someone to replace scandal-tainted Sen. Robert Torricelli on the November ballot. Gov. James E. McGreevey and other Democrats huddled at the governor’s mansion in Princeton to discuss potential candidates. Rep. Frank Pallone and former Sen. Frank Lautenberg both said they would consider running if asked, but party officials refused to disclose whether there was a favorite.

Reached by telephone on his way to the mansion, the 78-year-old Lautenberg indicated he is ready to run.

“I was there (in the Senate) 18 years, and I enjoyed virtually every day,” Lautenberg said in an interview from his car. “I didn’t like raising the money, but I’m not going to mind it as much this time, because it’s kind of fresh start.”

He cautioned that Democratic leaders had not offered him the candidacy. State Democratic officials are scheduled to decide their choice Wednesday evening, said Angelo Genova, a lawyer for the state party.

By then, the New Jersey Supreme Court will have heard arguments on whether the Democrats should be able to replace Torricelli this close to Election Day. The court agreed Tuesday to hear the case immediately, rather than wait for a lower court to act.

Republicans say it is too late to replace Torricelli, who dropped out Monday as his poll numbers continued to fall amid questions about his ethics.

Sen. William Frist, chairman of the Senate GOP campaign committee, said Republicans would consider an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if the New Jersey court rules in favor of the Democrats.

“This is a desperate grasp at getting around the law and the people of New Jersey are tired of having their leaders go around the law,” he said.

Frist said some absentee ballots have already been cast and that other ballots have been distributed to military personnel overseas.

“I don’t think the party bosses who are trying to do this will get away with it,” added Douglas Forrester, the Republican nominee.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said that by objecting to Torricelli’s request, Republicans were “denying the people of New Jersey a choice” in the election.

Five months ago, Torricelli’s Senate seat was considered relatively safe.

But support plummeted after he was admonished by the Senate ethics committee for his relationship with a 1996 campaign supporter, and he soon became the most vulnerable incumbent in the country.

Few, however, expected a court fight five weeks before Election Day.

“This is one for the books,” said Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia. “It will long be remembered.”

Under New Jersey law, a party can replace a statewide nominee on the ballot if the person drops out at least 51 days before the election. Torricelli missed the deadline by 15 days.

However, Democrats say decades of state court decisions put voters’ rights above filing deadlines and other technical guidelines.

Attorney General David Samson, a Democrat, argued in papers filed with the court Tuesday that the justices have the power to relax the deadline to withdraw and allow Democrats to post another candidate. He said election laws have long been interpreted liberally to allow voters every opportunity.

Legal experts agreed.

“In a substantial number of those cases, the courts have ruled on the side of being inclusive,” said Richard Perr, an election law professor at Rutgers University Law School.

Six of the seven justices on the state’s highest court were appointed by a former Republican governor.

The Democrats trying to replace Torricelli are haggling over not only who should step in but how that person should campaign, sources said on condition of anonymity.

Some want a candidate who could run a campaign based on the party’s organizational strengths in New Jersey, which leans Democratic. Others pushed for someone would could fund a campaign based mostly on television commercials to reach the state’s mostly moderate voters.

The two men who expressed interest in running – Pallone and Lautenberg – offer a contrast in ages.

Pallone, 50, has served in the House since 1989. He has established himself as a leading environmental activist in the party and has dropped hints that he is interested in running statewide for governor or senator.

Lautenberg was a business executive before serving three terms in the Senate, deciding against a re-election bid in 2000.

A supporter of abortion rights and staunch opponent of the death penalty, Lautenberg counted among his accomplishments a law requiring companies to disclose chemicals they release into the environment, a law banning smoking on domestic flights and a law banning gun ownership by those convicted of domestic violence.

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On the Net:

Forrester campaign: http://www.forrester2002.com

New Jersey Democrats: http://www.njdems.org