New Jersey has been among the last states to vote in presidential primaries, but that could change if some Democrats have their way. As the Democratic National Committee reorganizes its primary calendar, state Democratic Party chair LeRoy Jones has asked that New Jersey be moved to the front of primary states. And Sen. Dick Codey (D-Essex) is readying a bill that would designate the third Tuesday in February as the state’s presidential primary day.
Geoffrey Skelly, elections analyst at FiveThirtyEight, analyzed all the states based on the Democratic National Committee’s criteria and found Jersey ranked well. “Among those things was racial diversity, union membership. These are things that New Jersey actually scored well on. But, with the diversity point it would score especially well.” He added, “It’s not a top down process where the DNC can just say this is the order.”
