Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
(1982-2001, 2003-2012)
Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) (1982-2001, 2003-2013), a longtime dedicated public servant, died on June 3, 2013, at the age of 89. As the last World War II veteran to serve in the Senate, his death is the end of an era. Many have eulogized him in recent days, including another prominent New Jersey politician, Governor Chris Christie (R). To say that Governor Christie and Senator Lautenberg did not get along would be an understatement. They disagreed on a host of issues, and often “had words”, according to the governor. I can only say that many states would be lucky to have a senator like Frank Lautenberg.
Politically, however, the issue becomes appointing and then electing Senator Lautenberg’s successors. New Jersey law on a U.S. Senate vacancy is muddled, but it boils down to the governor being able to appoint a replacement who can serve through the remainder of the term (which in this case would be January 2015), or until a replacement is elected in a special election. A special election can only be called by the governor if he or she deems it necessary. And as Governor Christie said multiple times, he has “deemed it necessary” and called for an August 13 primary and October 16 general. In his 22 minute press conference announcing the decision (available on Politico and elsewhere), Governor Christie said repeatedly that he believed it was essential to have an elected representative in Washington. When confronted with the price tag of the election, estimated at almost $24 million USD, he said that you couldn’t put a price on it. The governor also said he would appoint an individual to serve in the seat until October 16, regardless of whether that person wants to run for the seat or not. Whoever wins the special election would serve out the remainder of Senator Lautenberg’s term, and would have to run again in 2014 for a full term ending in 2020.
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