Six candidates have filed to run for in the special election to be New Jersey’s next Senator: four Democrats and two Republicans filed to run before Monday’s 4 p.m. deadline, The Star-Ledger reported.
The special election is set for October and will determine the successor to the seat that was held by Sen. Frank Lautenberg until he passed away last week.
On the Democratic side, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Rep. Rush Holt, Rep. Frank Pallone, and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver have thrown their hats into the ring. Two polls released today showed Booker getting over fifty percent of the vote in a primary and sporting far better name identification than any of his competitors. Oliver was not included in either poll, as she had not yet announced when they were run.
On the Republican side, conservative Steve Lonegan and doctor Alieta Eck have filed their candidacies.
Lonegan described himself as a “conservative warrior,” in remarks made as he filed his petition, according to The Star-Ledger, and said all the Democrats were “the same. They’re all rubber stamps for Barack Obama.”
The Division of Elections still needs to confirm that each candidate submitted the 1,000 required signatures before the candidacies become official.
The special election is scheduled for October 16. The primary will be August 13.