| It is easy to criticize the status quo, but changing it is a different story. The first question that must be asked is why New Jersey, especially as an overall progressive state, has such a poor record of putting women in office. There are, of course, the usual factors that apply across the board: women have more difficulty raising money, women may be discouraged from running for office or encouraged to run for offices regarded as embodying female attributes, and some studies show that women are at a 10% disadvantage just because of their gender. These factors apply equally in Kansas and New Jersey though, so why does New Jersey do so much worse than Kansas when it comes to electing women to office? One reason is New Jersey’s party boss system. This system is exacerbated by two primary factors: control over money and control over the party line. The latter is easily remedied; the former presents a greater challenge. The state legislature could mandate open primaries, which would decentralize the power that so called “party bosses” have. This would mean that anyone interested in running in a primary may take out a petition, collect the requisite number of signatures and file to run, all without even consulting the county party. Should more people file than there are seats available, the county clerk randomly draws names to decide what order the candidates will appear on the ballot. Open primaries are highly competitive. In a closed primary, by contrast, the county chair and his/her (usually his) executive committee determine which candidate they want to run on the party line. This type of system readily lends itself to the exclusion of women, racial and ethnic minorities and young people, even if unintentional. Mandating open primaries would put the choice of a general election candidate into the hands of the voters rather than the county chair. Due consideration should be given to the fact that closed primaries may benefit women. In both contested primaries in which I ran, I was successful because I had the party line. By contrast, the Republicans in Morris County had an open primary with 9 candidates, 2 of which were women. Neither woman won, rendering me the sole female in a field of six candidates for the primary election. Women can be excluded by either system, but when in doubt, it’s better to empower voters. Money is more difficult. A county chair and his committee get to allocate money to races and candidates of their choosing. This could mean streamlining money towards their favored candidates and possibly away from women and minorities, even if unintentional. This is a stickier problem simply because somebody has to allocate the money and who better to do that than the county chair? In the case of engaging young people, the exclusion is less insidious. Aside from the same difficulties of fundraising (it’s difficult to compete with an opponent in fundraising when they have held elected office longer than you have been alive) and garnering county support, young people are explicitly excluded from holding many offices because of their age. Currently, you must be 21 to run for Assembly and 30 to run for Senate. This is in the state Constitution. Those ages should be lowered and the decision of whether to put a young person in office should be left to the voters. Actions that the state legislature take have huge ramifications for young people. How much funding higher education receives is a poignant example of how legislative decisions can have a lasting impact on a young person’s life. Lack of health insurance is another issue that weighs more heavily on this demographic. Because of the huge impact that the state legislature has on the lives of young adults, young adults should be able to serve in the legislative chambers. It should be up to the voters whether or not they want to elect a young person. On both fronts and in regard to other demographics, there are huge steps that individuals can take to ensure a truly representative democracy. 1. Run for office! Or, if you prefer, support a woman or young person that is running for office. If you want to support a female or young candidate, but do not know any, reach out to Democrats2000, an organization dedicated to supporting young candidates. 2. Run for a county committee seat. 50% of all seats on the county committee are reserved for women. Many of these seats go unfilled. Committee people control who gets elected to the county party executive committee and thus hold tremendous say over who gets support in closed primaries and who gets party money. If a county chair does not support diverse candidates, the county committee representative can vote him/her out. It is an undeniably powerful position to hold. 3. Put political pressure on your legislators and county to have an open primary. It would be difficult for the legislature to take the initiative considering their own seats may often depend on getting their county chair’s support and the county chair may not take kindly to their candidate trying to dilute their power. Still, the county chair may take the initiative on his own. New Jersey is a very progressive state, but we have absolutely failed to ensure that our government, state and local, are representative of the population. We can take some simple steps as individuals and as a community to achieve greater diversity and representation.
Dana Wefer is running for Freeholder in Morris County. |
