NJ-02: What you need to know about the 2nd Congressional District primary
Five Democrats are vying for the right to try to unseat Van Drew, while Van Drew faces only one Republican opponent, who pundits say has little organizational support or financing.
Gov. Phil Murphy ordered the election to be mostly vote-by-mail in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to minimize close physical contact at the polls by voters to avoid spreading the coronavirus. He moved the primary to July 7 from its traditional June date to give counties more time to get vote-by-mail ballots and information to voters.
One candidate has asked for federal oversight of the election because of a history of alleged vote-by-mail irregularities in the district, but the U.S. Attorney's Office has not responded to the request.
The three leading candidates are two women and a Black man, and if any of them prevail in the fall it would be historic. Only white men have represented the district throughout its history.
The 2nd District is geographically the state's largest, requiring primary candidates to vie for the support of eight different county party organizations, requiring candidates to travel a great deal to meet with voters. The pandemic, however, has forced candidates to do most of their campaigning since March online.
https://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/politics/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-2nd-congressional-district-primary/article_77298f2c-aa62-5d3e-ac52-0b90e83c4cc0.html
