PRESS RELEASE from the Office of Gov. Jon Corzine (D-NJ)
 
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: April 1, 2007 		 FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Anthony Coley
Brendan Gilfillan
 

GOVERNOR CORZINE SIGNS LEGISLATION MOVING UP NEW JERSEY’S PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY

TRENTON – Governor Jon S. Corzine today signed legislation moving New Jersey’s presidential primary election to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in February.  The legislation will take effect immediately, moving the primary for the 2008 presidential election from February 26 to February 5, 2008.

“For far too long presidential candidates have seen New Jersey only as a source of campaign cash,” Governor Corzine said.  “New Jersey is now a prime-time player in the nomination process, and candidates will have to come here, speak to voters and hear and respond to our concerns about a variety of issues that impact our state.”

The bill applies only to presidential primaries and does not affect the date of any other primary election.  The presidential primary had been moved to the last Tuesday in February as a result of legislation passed in June of 2005.

“For as long as I can remember, the needs of our voters have always taken a backseat to our wallets during the crucial presidential primary season.  Today, all of that ends,” said Senate President Richard J. Codey (D-Essex).  “With so many critical decisions facing our nation right now, New Jersey voters deserve to have more of a voice in selecting the person who will guide our country through these tenuous times.”

“For decades, our last-in-the-nation-primary status relegated New Jersey to the sidelines in the presidential selection process,” said Roberts (D-Camden).  “Today, New Jersey’s primary voters take a well-deserved walk to the front of the class.  Presidential candidates who previously viewed New Jersey as just another stop in the search for campaign dollars now will make our state a principal stop in the search for primary votes.”

The bill (S-2193/A-4010) was also sponsored in the Senate by Senator Ellen Karcher (D-Mercer, Monmouth).  It was sponsored in the Assembly by Assemblymembers Van Drew (D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic), Watson Coleman (D-Mercer), Greenstein (D-Mercer, Middlesex), Gordon (D-Bergen), Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) and Hackett (D-Essex).