An important position that most voters have never heard of before.

When you hear candidates tell you to "Vote Column X", what they are really saying is "don't think, just cast your vote for the people we choose for you."  That isn't democracy.

The Democratic County Committee represents the bottom tier of the party hierarchy in New Jersey.  But don't let this fool you into thinking the position is unimportant.  

Townships are divided into voting districts of roughly equal size, with the number of districts varying with the population.  Metuchen has 13 voting districts, each represented by 2 Committee members who serve a 4-year term in office. To see what voting district you live in, click here.

The Democratic Party in New Jersey comprises both elected and un-elected Democrats that each have distinct roles to play. Despite the fact that a healthy Democracy should, by definition, involve the participation of voters, in reality too many highly consequential decisions are made by unelected party officials.   Among these are personally selecting candidates to run on the "party line" under the names of other party-endorsed candidates up-ballot.  Because studies have shown that being listed on the party line has a powerful influence on voter choice by its very design, many candidates listed in this column, especially those at the bottom,  are elected without ever needing to campaign for their position or meet the citizens (their neighbors) whose vote they seek.  

This has prompted calls to redesign the New Jersey ballot to avoid favoring party-chosen candidates as well as other adverse issues related to it's confusing design.  You can watch this informative presentation if you are interested in learning more about this little known but important issue.

What do Committee members do?  During their tenure, they participate in Democratic Party activities, including helping to educate voters in their district (their neighbors) on the positions of Democrats running for town, state, county or national positions.  Importantly, Committee Members decide who will represent the Democratic Party on the general election ballot in these more powerful positions. Thus, individual Committee Member exert a significant influence over the candidates that voters can choose during general elections and in doing so help set the direction of the Party as a whole.  We feel that this process has been left in the hands of party insiders for too long and has drifted away from representing the best interests of Metuchen citizens.

We are running to help correct this problem and return our Democracy to the voters of Metuchen.