In an attempt to maintain their one-seat advantage in the U.S. Senate, Democrats named former Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a man with national name-recognition, as their replacement for besmirched Sen. Robert Torricelli.
Lautenberg, 78, emerged last night from a field of possible Democrats across the state. However, the party will have to fight a legal battle today in N.J. Supreme Court against Republican candidate Doug Forrester to place Lautenberg's name on the ballot.
Forrester's campaign manager Bill Pascoe said Torricelli and his allies were in "disarray."
"When it comes to Mr. Lautenberg, the voters are going to say, 'Been there, done that.' It's time for new leadership . . . It's time to restore honor and integrity in New Jersey," he said.
Torricelli dropped out of the race after the Sept. 16 deadline, sending the Democratic Party scrambling for a replacement with only five weeks until the election. Republicans vowed to oppose a Democratic petition to name a new candidate. If the court finds in favor of the Democrats, the ballots will be reprinted, said Margaret Caldwell-Wilson, a member of the Mercer County board of elections.
Mercer County Clerk Catherine DiCostanzo said her office recently mailed 658 absentee ballots, all listing Torricelli as the Democratic candidate.
"We're all kind of shell-shocked," she said. "We've really never experienced anything like this."
DiCostanzo said money is one concern for the clerk's office if the court orders a reprinting.
"I'm not sure who's going to cover the cost — you're talking about a lot of money here," she said.
With his poll numbers plummeting in the last week, Torricelli held a press conference Monday afternoon to abandon his candidacy, citing his campaign's inability to get past the attacks on his ethics that have persisted since he began to seek reelection. He said he felt he could not convey his policy issues to N.J. voters and called Forrester someone who did not belong in the Senate.
The Senate ethics committee rebuked Torricelli in July for receiving illegal campaign contributions during his 1996 run for the Senate.
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