Moderate Party (New Jersey)

The party was founded in the summer of 2022 in preparation for the election of that year. The party was co-founded by Rick Wolfe, former Republican mayor of East Amwell Township and Michelle Garay, former Republican mayor of Alexandria Township with Wolfe going on to be the party's spokesman and Garay the chairwoman.[2][7][8][4][9] After the foundation of the party, Wolfe stated in interviews that the intention of the party was "to reach out to New Jersey's 'exhausted majority'," to offer a home to voters who dislike how far the Republicans have moved to the right and Democrats to the left and to "be the vehicle that brings these candidates to the center." Wolfe claims that New Jerseyites want candidates who will support their communities and values and not participate in a larger nationwide culture war.[1][9]

The centerpiece of the party's aspirations is the restoration of the practice of fusion voting in New Jersey,[1][3][10][11][12] and eventually implement the practice nationally.[13] The practice would allow a candidate to appear on a ballot multiple times for multiple parties allowing for voters to vote for a candidate even if they disagree with that candidate's major party affiliation. The practice had been legal in New Jersey for decades throughout the 19th century and early 20th century and was expressly authorized under the State's landmark Geran Law, passed under the direction of then Governor Woodrow Wilson. However, the practice was outlawed in New Jersey in a series of laws passed in 1921 and 1922.[1][14][7][4][9][12][13]

The party hopes that by bringing back fusion voting that it would incentivize voters to vote with their conscience more so than party affiliation, and allow Democrats to vote for centrist Republicans, and Republicans to vote for centrist Democrats, without having to vote for the opposing party directly.[14][9] Electoral fusion is a widely-discussed policy proposal. For example, Lee Drutman of New America has also supported the initiative, saying that it "gives voters the ability to clearly signal: 'stop the hyper-partisan fighting and work together'".[15] The party's attempts to restore the practice have so far failed, with Secretary of State of New Jersey, Tahesha Way, tossing the party's petition to restore the practice twice.[7][3][4][9]

The party has been supported in its lawsuit by Protect Democracy. The party's lawsuit has also been supported by former Republican governor Christie Todd Whitman and former Democratic Senator Robert Torricelli who wrote, "the systemic benefits of fusion could be substantial, by tempering the destabilizing effects of hyper-polarization and by incentivizing parties and candidates to compete for voters in the middle."[16]

In 2022, the party made only one nomination, in the 7th congressional district race, to incumbent Representative Tom Malinowski. He welcomed its support, saying that it represented an “alliance between Democrats of all stripes, independents and moderate Republicans.” The party also drew support from centrist members of the Democratic party who claim that the party has shifted too far to the left.[13] Additionally, Malinowski has reached out to both Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger to one day join the party should it ever reach national levels of support.[14]

Malinowski and the Moderate party would be heavily criticized by the New Jersey Republican State Committee and Malinowski's opponent Thomas Kean Jr., claiming that the creation of the party was an unconstitutional attempt to subvert voters. Furthermore, the party has been criticized for it's Political action committee, the Moderate Party Independent Fund which was wholly bankrolled by a $500,000 donation from Nancy Pelosi's House Majority PAC, and from the heavy involvement of Working Families Party's New Jersey director Sue Altman in the party's establishment.[11] Additionally, the party's very nomination of Malinowski received backlash due to Malinowski's criticism of the socially liberal and fiscally conservative Democratic representative from New Jersey, Josh Gottheimer.[4] Kean would defeat Malinowski 51.5% to 48.5%.[17]

Following the defeat of Malinowski in the 2022 election, the party insisted that their mission had not ended and re-focused their efforts on the New Jersey State Senate and New Jersey General Assembly elections, hoping to field candidates in each race either as Democrats, Republicans or stand alone Moderates to hopefully make the prospect of implementing fusion voting via the state legislature less of a fantasy. Additionally, they hope that a supreme court ruling on fusion voting will come by July or August 2023.[18]

Their efforts to restore fusion voting have been bolstered by a poll for Fairleigh Dickinson University which stated that 56% of New Jerseyites supported restoring the practice in the state.[19][20][21] Additionally, another poll by Braun Research, this time on behalf of the New America Foundation, found that 68% of New Jerseyites support fusion voting, and 81% of New Jerseyites are discontent with the two party system.[22]

The party's lawsuit to implement fusion voting initiated in July of 2022 has yet to be considered by any New Jersey court. The New Jersey Republican party motioned to have the case dismissed altogether.[23] The New Jersey Attorney General, Matthew Platkin, has also called for the suit to be dismissed. However, on May 2, 2023, a three-judge panel rejected the calls for dismissal and announced the lawsuit can proceed to the State Supreme Court.[24]

In March 2023, a group led by former Working Families chairman Dan Cantor began working on a New York Moderate Party for the 2024 United States elections in New York. The party has the same goals as the New Jersey party, hoping to represent centrist, socially liberal, and fiscally conservative Republicans alienated by the Republican Party in the state. The movement has also been met with the same criticism as being cynical and dishonest. Unlike New Jersey, the party will have a much easier time to get on the ballot as Fusion voting is legal in the state.[25] Another New York Moderate party has been created by Matt Castelli, the Democratic challenger in New York's 21st congressional district in 2022.[26][27]

Besides fusion voting, the parties beliefs as outlined on their website are as follows:

• Eliminate political extremism
• Support bipartisanship
• Tackle local instead of national issues
• Protect the foundations of American democracy
• Fiscal conservatism
• Immigration reform
• "Facts-based" legislation
• Government transparency