NJ-9 independent tossed from ballot
Diomedes Minaya won’t get to run for Congress after judge rejects his nominating petitions
Perennial candidate Diomedes Minaya has been disqualified from the ballot in New Jersey’s 9th Congressional District after failing to submit enough valid signatures.
Minaya filed 350 signatures, but Administrative Law Judge Andrew Baron found 104 of them invalid because the signers were not registered voters or did not sign with their full names. As a result, Minaya missed the 250-signature threshold required to qualify for the ballot by four signatures.
A resident of Passaic, Minaya has run for local office 12 times. This year, running as an independent under the slogan “God First,” he mounted his first campaign for federal office.
At the start of a six-hour hearing that began at 10 AM, Minaya told those present, “Whatever the decision is, God bless all of you.”
After Baron ruled against him, Minaya remained gracious.
“I also want to thank Mr. Kenny,” he said, referring to Republican operative K…