New Jersey Delegate Information

[Stacey S]

Just back from the rally, and have no clue how to become a delegate. Any infromation should be posted here. Our meet up is working on infro gathering this week. I will update as I get it.

[johnscr]

Becoming a delegate is important but in New Jersey it is winner takes all statewide and delegates are bound to vote for the winner of the primary. That means delegates are only important if the national convention does not pick a winner on the first round and delegates are free to vote for a different candidate. The process basically consists of getting 100 signatures on the petition and telling your local chairperson you want to go. Be aware you will need to pay your own way to Minneapolis.

There is plenty of time to do this - until April I believe. I think much more important to focus on getting Ron Paul ballot petitions completed as these are due Dec 7

[Stacey S]

The NJ Ron Paul meet up group has a great thread about delegates.
Please read this note if you are having concerns about the delegate selection process. I will try to explain everything.

I have been intimately involved with the delegate rules, and lobbied aggressively against the "winner take all" formula alongside supporters of John McCain, Duncan Hunter, etc. (see my editorial in the Star Ledger on this topic, as well as my report from the Republican State Committee meeting at which the delegate process was determined).

I read Donald's note and thus directly contacted Tom Wilson, the NJGOP State Chairman. Here is Chairman Wilson's response:

"There is nothing in the law. The link you posted says it all. Delegates are pledged/bound/committed for 3 ballots to vote for whomever wins the vote on Feb 5 EXCEPT that the RNC Rule 38 says:

RULE NO. 38
Unit Rule
No delegate or alternate delegate shall be bound by any attempt of any state or congressional district to impose the unit rule.

The RNC, however, has never viewed this as a prohibition on state's actions against a delegate who doesn't follow the rules of that state. In other words, you can't be "removed" as a delegate or have your vote taken away or anything like that for not following the rules, but the state or local party organization can sanction you. We specifically note that a sanction could include a vote to permanently bar the offender from ever being a delegate again...or pretty much anything else the party organization wishes to do that isn't illegal. Sanctions are not automatic, but left up to the party.

As to the selection process, the point of selecting them in June was to ensure that the delegates were party delegates, not candidate delegates. Best advice is for anyone who supports a particular candidate to also get involved with the party and help more broadly."

As for the delegates, they will be selected NEXT June (after the February Primary but before the Republican National Convention at which they will nominate the GOP candidate for President). The delegates will be picked by the Republican hierarchy in each county, and quite frankly, they tend to go to elected local Republicans, longtime party activists and donors, etc. So if you want a shot at being a delegate, better show up at your local GOP HQ tomorrow and move heaven and earth to help the party win in 2007.

The delegates will be "bracketed" on "the line" with the Party's other favored candidates next June. That means that whoever the frontrunner for US Senate is, as well as the Congressional candidates (6 out of 13 are Republican incumbents) will have 3 delegate candidates in their "line", along with Freeholders, Council, Mayor, etc.

Winning elections "off the line" is often a fool's crusade, and quite frankly it will serve no purpose in this case. If Ron Paul wins the NJ Primary, he will receive all the delegate votes a la "winner take all". The fear of renegade delegates not supporting him is not realistic in my opinion - if he manages to win the NJ primary in February, that will mean that the Ron Paul Revolution will have succeeded and the mainstream party WILL embrace him at that point. We need not worry about sanctioning delegates.

Rather, let's spend our time getting our friends and neighbors pumped up about Ron Paul and the cause of freedom so that he will WIN over the hearts of skeptical Republicans, so that he will WIN the NJ primary in February, and so that he will WIN the nomination and eventually the Presidency!

If anyone has any questions, please contact me.

Best,
George Ajjan
http://www.ajjan.com...
(973) 685-6368


Edited by George Ajjan on Oct 19, 2007 at 6:39 PM

[johnscr]

Everything George says is, of course, absolutely correct.
A couple of extra points:
- The April date I gave above is for submitting the petition to become a delegate. It is 67 days prior to the convention I believe
- I agree that we need not worry about delegates not voting for Ron Paul if he wins the primary. However, given the likelihood of nobody getting a majority in the first round we could wind up in a situation where delegates are no longer bound. I'll have to check the exact circumstances under which this could happen.

- In some districts they have trouble finding delegates because of the expense of traveling to the convention (which must be covered by the delegate). So it may just require volunteering to the local chairman

In any case, I think becoming involved with the Republican party is a good idea. But we can worry about the delegate thing later

[KevinF]

I also replied to the NJ Meetup delegate thread.

Although NJ delegates are "bound", the only penalty for not voting the way of the primary winner is censure. So in theory, even if Ron wins NJ, a delegate could theoretically vote for someone else even in the early rounds of the convention. However, the vice versa is true also, and even if someone else wins NJ, a delegate could theoretically vote for Ron anyway, but face censure.

My main point is that technically speaking, even if a candidate loses a primary, there is a second bite at the apple, if the delegates rebel. Just food for thought.

I'm willing to run as a delegate when the time comes and pay my own way in order to ensure that Ron gets his votes if and when he wins NJ.

Kevin