You Should Really Care More About This Senate Race

In what will likely be one of the most underwhelming instances of voter turnout of late, the state of New Jersey started the process of selecting a new senator Tuesday.

Democrats and Republicans in the Garden State will square off at the polls in a rare mid-August election that will help determine who fills the seat left behind when longtime Senator Frank Lautenberg died in June.

Tuesday's election is the first in a two step process. Four Democrats and two Republicans will face off, with the winners competing in a final October 16 election. The victor will head to Washington to finish up Lautenberg's remaining 15 months in office.

Frontrunners in the race include popular Democrat Cory Booker, who is currently the mayor of Newark, and Republican Steve Lonegan, the former mayor of Bogata, NJ and state director of Americans for Prosperity, an anti-tax organization.

Voter turnout for the late-summer election is expected to be pretty bad. The combination of it being a popular vacation time and heavy rain will likely translate to paltry numbers at the poll.

Other candidates vying for Lautenberg's seat include: Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, U.S. Representatives Rush Holt and Frank Pallone and Alieta Eck, a doctor from Franklin Township, NJ.