Potential U.S. Senate candidates from N.J. have just days to declare

Potential candidates for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Frank Lautenberg will have to decide quickly whether they want to be in the special New Jersey primary election Aug. 13.

 

The deadline to file petitions to run for is Monday.

Having the money to launch a viable campaign will be a factor in determining who enters the race, said John Weingart, associate director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers.

“This is going to be a very quick campaign,” he said Wednesday. “So if you’ve got the money or a significant amount of the money you need, you’ve got a big leg up. It’s always helpful to have money, but here you have less time to raise funds than in a normal election or if you were thinking about running in 2014.”

Anyone who wants to run will also need the organizational ability to collect 1,000 signatures on their petition in just a few days.

Weingart says some potential candidates may wait until near the filing deadline to see who else has entered the race before making their own decision.

The special election for the Senate seat will take place in October. The general election, featuring the gubernatorial race, will take place Nov. 5.