With five Essex County Commissioners not seeking re-election, and a sixth facing a competitive race to keep his seat — the Democratic county convention on Saturday will undoubtedly feature a fresh set of newcomers to share the ticket with six-term County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr.
Eleven candidates are seeking party support – which in the no-line era means an endorsement and bracketing of candidates running with the same organization slogan – for four Commissioner-At-Large seats, including four-term incumbent Wayne Richardson. The other three incumbents — Patricia Sebold (D-Livingston), Brendan Gill (D-Montclair), and Romaine Sermons (D-Irvington) – are not seeking re-election.
In addition to Richardson, Bloomfield Democratic Municipal Vice Chair Corey Anderson, former Maplewood Township Committeewoman Deb Engel, Irvington Councilwoman Charnette Fredric, Livingston Mayor Shawn Klein, former Newark Public Schools Advisory Board member Marques Aquil Lewis, Verona Councilwoman Christine McGrath, former Millburn Mayor Annette Romano, former Montclair Mayor Robert Russo, West Orange Democratic Municipal Chairman Abdur R. Yasin, and former Livingston school board president Vineeta Khanna are on the ballot for the four at-large seats.
In District 3, which includes East Orange, Orange, South Orange, and part of Newark, Medinah E. Muhammad, an East Orange school board member, and Orange Democratic Municipal Chair Antoinett Hall are facing off.
Incumbent Tyshammie Cooper (D-East Orange) is not seeking re-election after nearly nine years in office.
Muhammad served as an aide to Gov. Phil Murphy and as chief of staff to then-Assemblywoman Britnee Timberlake. She has held posts at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the Department of Transportation, and served as chair of the East Orange Parking Authority. Hall is also on the ballot in the May non-partisan municipal election for the East Ward seat on the Orange City Council.
Four other candidates for district county commissioner seats are unopposed at the convention. One incumbent, Robert Mercado, is not running again. Wilson Pichardo, a senior advisor at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, has no convention opposition for the District 1 seat.
Incumbents A’Dorian Murray-Thomas in District 2, Leonard Luciano in District 4, and Carlos Pomares in District 5 are also unopposed.
The convention is not binding, and candidates have until 4 PM on March 23 to file for the June primary election.
Seventeen candidates are vying for ten Essex County State Committee seats, with eight incumbents not seeking re-election.
Two incumbents are on the ballot: Larry Hirsch, the South Orange Democratic municipal co-chairman, and the acting president of AFGE Local 913, which represents U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development employees in New Jersey and New York; and Terry Tucker, who served as chief of staff to the late Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver.
Also seeking seats are: Stacey Abenstein, Debora Allessandro, Julio Aponte III, Beth Chevat, Robert Dreyfuss, Joan Hussey, Alison James-Frisson, Staenik Margaryan, Rebecca Morrison, Ritu Pancholy, Joe Rospars, Vereliz Santana, Tariq Shabazz, Norm Sutaria, and Laura Valente.
Retiring from the state committee are: Phil Alagia, Tom Barrett, Isabel Cruz, Christopher Durkin, Lee Fisher, Alixon Collazos-Gill, Joseph Parlevecchio, and Jeanette Seabrooks.
LeRoy Jones, the Essex County Democratic Chairman, is also the Democratic State Chairman.
U.S. Senator Cory Booker faces a challenge in his home county from Chris Fields, a former Readington Democratic municipal vice chairman. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark) in the 10th district, Rep. Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City) in the 8th district, and Analilia Mejia, the party’s nominee in the April 16 special election in the 11th district, have no convention opposition.
DiVincenzo is unopposed.
