Statement of Solidarity with the Monmouth County Greens on a Failed Ballot Access Challenge in LD-11
Statement by the Central New Jersey Socialist Party
Recently, an attempt was made by the Democratic Party in Monmouth County to remove the Green Party nominee for the General Assembly in LD-11, housing activist Dominique Faison, from the 2021 general election ballot. This eleventh-hour challenge, made by the political campaign director for the incumbent Democrats in LD-11, was carried out despite the fact that Ms. Faison had successfully met and exceeded the number of signatures required for ballot access.
Ultimately, the challenge was defeated and Ms. Faison will appear on the ballot in November as a progressive alternative to Democratic incumbents Eric Houghtaling and Joann Downey. While we have not issued any endorsements this year, the Central New Jersey Socialist Party would like to express our complete support for Ms. Faison and the Green Party of Monmouth County’s right to ballot access in this election. Furthermore, we strongly condemn the blatant attempt by the Democratic machine in Monmouth County to suppress left-wing voices, deny voters a radical alternative, and shield the incumbents’ record in office from a deserved challenge from the left. The complete silence from the incumbent Democrats and LD-11 Democratic campaign on the ballot challenge suggests that it was, at best, tolerated by the campaign and, at worst, orchestrated by it.
Voter suppression is a real and constant threat in the United States. While the Democratic Party is vocal in its performative opposition to voter restrictions in states they do not have firm control over, they routinely engage in suppressive tactics in Democrat-led states like New Jersey. Both progressive challengers in Democratic primaries and alternative party candidates in general elections face relentless attempts at suppression by the Democratic Party. The shameless attempt by the campaign of two white moderates to exclude a Black woman and mother of nine from this election is not a one-time occurrence, but a regular practice by a party that preaches diversity but demands obedience. Even though Ms. Faison prevailed in this ballot challenge, she will still be subject to unfair placement on a rigged ballot design, a fundraising disadvantage against the twin parties of capitalism, and likely little to no opportunity to formally debate the “major” candidates.
Both in New Jersey and elsewhere, the Democratic Party does not represent the interests of the working class. At the same time that the Socialist Party and Green Party were organizing during the Christie and Murphy Administrations for a $15 minimum wage for all workers as part of the 15NowNJ coalition, Democrats including Assemblymembers Houghtaling and Downey fought the initiative until it could be co-opted and watered down. The same is also true for the decriminalization of marijuana, which socialists in New Jersey have supported for decades but Democrats only warmed to once there was a profit to be made for the wealthy instead of for the working class and communities of color that were persecuted with draconian laws by previous administrations led by Democrats and Republicans alike.
Let this latest incident of Democrat-led voter suppression in Monmouth County serve as a reminder that working class political power does not run through the halls of Trenton or the twin parties of capitalism. To advance its interests, the working class needs a party of its own; a socialist party of its own.
