In counties where rank-and-file county committee members have limited influence over the decision, Ras Baraka urges the other contenders in the Democratic race for governor to turn down organization support.
In addition to accusing some county chairs—whom he did not specifically name—of endorsing candidates before the vote, he also said that others engaged in more covert but no less harmful manipulation of the process by endorsing candidates before their convention.
According to Baraka, some county chairs restrict them from accessing essential materials they need to compete, such as the names of delegates, short notice of convention dates, and the ability to properly reach out and stack the deck before the vote ever takes place.
According to Baraka, the three-term mayor of Newark, these strategies may be less overt than a unilateral endorsement, but they all lead to the same outcome: a party that alienates the very people it purports to represent and a process that feels rigged. No argument. No influence from those who are meant to embody the core values of our party.
Ahead of Wednesday’s Mercer County Democratic convention, where many party leaders have endorsed Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), Baraka has criticized the procedure.
According to Baraka, some county chairs are just skirting a ruling last year by U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi to do away with the line.
The removal of the county border was intended to remove this similar undemocratic concentration of power, but it still exists, leaving both committee members and voters disenchanted and suspicious of our leadership.
However, Baraka declared that he would continue to attend conventions and commended the state’s inaugural Hunterdon County Democratic convention, in which he lost to Sherrill on the second ballot.
I came away from that encounter with a profound respect for the honesty of their procedure, in which each candidate was given an opportunity to present their case and each committee member’s vote was genuinely significant. He claimed that Hunterdon County served as an example of what democracy in our party ought to look like.
In a letter to former Senate President Steve Sweeney, New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller, and Representatives Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly) and Sherrill, Baraka urged his main rivals to condemn endorsements that were obtained outside of a democratic process. Steve Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City and another candidate, has already said that he will not participate in conventions and has harshly criticized the procedure.
“Whether it’s Donald Trump attacking democracy from the outside or Democratic leaders here at home eroding it from within, we must stand against anyone who undermines democracy,” Baraka said. I implore you to join me in this pledge.
In his letter, Baraka demanded many changes to the post-line county endorsement procedure, including a restriction on pre-convention county chair endorsements, extensive advance notice of meetings, and complete transparency over access to county committee contact information.
In order to ensure fairness, safeguard against coercion or retaliation, and enable members to vote according to their conscience, he seeks a convention in which each committee member gets a meaningful vote on a secret ballot.
