18-06-2025
Cherry Hill Dem committee fight may head to court
Good Wednesday morning!
It does not appear Camden County Democrats are just going to lay down and let a ragtag trio of challengers take over the county committee in their biggest town.
Cherry Hill Democrats congratulated 'the members of the progressive party who have gained three seats on the Cherry Hill Democratic Committee' in a Friday on Facebook post.
That looks like a cheeky way of claiming their rivals, the South Jersey Progressive Democrats, who they don't call Democrats, didn't win the other 71 seats.
'At this juncture, we will be reserving further comment about the future of the committee until the election has been certified,' read the statement. (The page administrator turned off unapproved replies.)
Camden County voters chose just one oval for county committee in last week's primary — be it for the three 'South Jersey Progressive Democrats' who won, or the 74 candidates who ran under the 'Camden County Democratic Committee' slogan. The ballot was designed by County Clerk Pam Lampitt, a member of the Camden County Democratic machine. And if Camden County Democrats elected committee members by voting district instead of at-large, this wouldn't have been an issue. Instead, the three South Jersey Progressive Democrats got the top ballot spot and won by a landslide.
Naturally, the three South Jersey Progressive Democrats who won hope that they can fill the 71 vacancies. They cite both state law and the Camden County Democratic bylaws that say that vacancies, including those for 'failure to elect,' 'shall be filled for the unexpired term by the municipal committee of the municipality wherein the vacancy occurs.'
Since the Cherry Hill Democratic Committee isn't commenting, I can only speculate what their argument will be. My guess is it will be that three committee members can't form a quorum, leaving it up to the county chair to appoint the rest.
The election is set to be certified next week, after which the progressives are girding for a lawsuit from the Camden County Democrats. 'With a lawsuit, the machine will be saying to the Democratic voters of Cherry Hill: 'Heads we win, tails we go to court, employing our considerable financial muscle to overturn your decision to throw us out,'' Rena Margulis, one of the three successful committee candidates, said in a statement.
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WHERE'S MURPHY — In Atlantic City at 9:30 a.m. to speak at the state AFL-CIO's endorsement conference. Media: 'Ask Governor Murphy' at 7 p.m. on your local NPR affiliate
QUOTE OF THE DAY: ''My priority for the next few months, and that of every Democrat, must be to help Mikie Sherrill our next governor, and to make sure Trump doesn't get a win in New Jersey this November. Once that's done, my response to everyone who has been reaching out is that, of course, I would be interested in running to fill the vacancy in the 11th district, so that it continues to have the strongest and most experienced representation at this difficult moment for our country.' — Hunterdon County Democratic Chair and former 7th District Rep. Tom Malinowski
PROGRAMMING NOTE — NJ Playbook will be off Thursday for Juneteenth. See you Friday
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Brian Boyell, James Corti, Matthew Frankel, George Geist, John McCarthy, Carmen Rodriguez. Thursday for Stephanie Albanese
WHAT TRENTON MADE
A LEAGUE OF MUNICIPALITIES OF THEIR OWN — Female Assembly candidates see strength in primaries, by POLITICO's Madison Fernandez: Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the only female candidate in the primary for governor, overwhelmingly won last week's election — around 13 points over her closest opponent. Female candidates saw successes down-ballot, as well. In contested Assembly races, female candidates in many cases saw higher vote shares compared to male contenders — even those running on the same slate. While many of these victories have to do more with party dynamics and institutional support than gender, the results demonstrate strength among a demographic that is in the minority in the Assembly.
CAMPAIGN BUSINESS — Nominees for governor make their pitches to business community. by POLITICO's Madison Fernandez: As New Jersey faces rising costs and the economy is poised to be a top issue in the campaign, Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill gave their first pitches of the general election to the business community. Sherrill and Ciattarelli separately took the stage at an event hosted by the New Jersey Business and Industry Association event on Tuesday in Somerset. Both took the time to give their backgrounds — common parts of their stump speech — and discussed their legislative priorities, while largely avoiding any jabs at each other. It was the first large-scale appearance by the candidates since last week's primary, though both have hit the campaign trail in recent days: Ciattarelli has made a number of stops at local businesses, and Sherrill attended 'No Kings' protests over the weekend.
SORRY, CHARLIE — 'Press not exempt from law limiting publication of officials' addresses, court rules,' by New Jersey Monitor's Nikita Biryukov: 'A state law that shields from public disclosure the addresses and phone numbers of police, prosecutors, and judges can be used to bar press from publishing that information, the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously ruled Tuesday. The high court found that New Brunswick could invoke the threat of civil and criminal sanctions against Charlie Kratovil, editor of New Brunswick Today, under a statute known as Daniel's Law to bar him from publishing the address of the city's police director. Kratovil discovered through public records in 2023 that Anthony Caputo, then the city's police director, lived more than two hours south of New Brunswick and seldom attended public meetings. 'As applied to Kratovil, Daniel's Law as written is narrowly tailored to achieve the state interest of the highest order: protection of certain public officials from harm and the threat of harm so that they can perform their public duties without fear of reprisal,' Justice Anne Patterson wrote for the court. … The high court ruled the law was narrowly tailored enough to pass constitutional muster.'
BRING ON THE SASS — 'Who were the real losers in the 2025 NJ primary? County machines and bosses,' by Julia Sass Rubin for The Record: 'In 10 counties — seven in the Democratic primary and three in the Republican primary — the gubernatorial candidate endorsed by the local party organization lost. These counties include some with very strong Democratic political machines like Camden, Essex and Union, and very strong Republican political machines like Ocean. To put that in context, no Democratic gubernatorial nominee on the county line has lost a county in this century. Only three Republican gubernatorial nominees on the county line have lost in the last 20 years and all three losses were in Democratically controlled counties with weak Republican parties. There were substantial upsets in the Assembly races as well. … The ability to use the county line ballot to select the winners of primaries, combined with our state's largely non-competitive general elections, has enabled county political bosses to control our state for many decades. This has led to a Legislature that is accountable to those party bosses rather than to the voters.'
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TRUMP ERA
MISSED OPPORTUNITY TO ARRIVE BY PRIVATE JET — Former Sen. Bob Menendez reports to prison for 11-year sentence, by POLITICO's Ry Rivard: Former Sen. Bob Menendez began his 11-year prison sentence Tuesday morning, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said. The New Jersey Democrat, 71, was at the height of his power in 2023, as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, when federal prosecutors in New York revealed allegations based on a yearslong investigation that he'd sold his office for piles of cash and bars of gold. Now, he's at Federal Correctional Institution Schuylkill in Minersville, Pennsylvania.
SISTER TOLDYA MOMENT — 'N.J. mayor wanted ICE detention center inspected before 4 detainees escaped. 'I told you so...',' by NJ Advance Media's Steve Strunsky and Jelani Gibson: 'Newark sued GEO in April seeking to prevent the facility's opening after learning it was intended to house immigration detainees without a new certificate of occupancy specifically for its use as a detention center. Filed in state Superior Court, the matter was quickly moved on the same day to federal court after the company argued that the civil action involved substantial questions of federal law. ICE said Delaney Hall began housing detainees on May 1. In its own filings, GEO denied the city's allegations and has sought dismissal of the city's lawsuit. … However Baraka, in the wake of growing complaints by detainees regarding conditions inside the building said had inspections been allowed, things might have been different. 'This is evidence that we need to have done a certificate of occupancy application inspection,' he argued. 'I really don't want to say I told you so, but yeah, I think so. I mean, obviously they have to follow these laws in place for a reason.'
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—'FBI: Third of four escaped detainees from Newark ICE facility captured'
—'Four escapees from Newark ICE facility charged by U.S. Attorney; one remains at large'
LOCAL
BOGGED DOWN — The controversy over Cranbury Township's vote to seize a family farm for an affordable housing development became a cause celebre on the right and has now caught the attention of the Trump administration. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins took to Twitter where she posted a photo of herself on the phone with farm owner Andrew Hendry. 'The Biden-style government takeover of our family farms is over. While this particular case is a city eminent domain issue, we @usda are exploring every legal option to help.'
FREQUENT RUNNER-UP IN THE MISS CONDUCT PAGEANT— 'Clifton council deals with blowback over 'backward' hiring of city manager,' by The Record's Matt Fagan: 'Newly hired City Manager Gary DeMarzo has a checkered history that includes three indictments for official misconduct ― though no convictions ― 10 lawsuits, a judgment and a recent termination from his role as a business administrator in South Jersey, a background check obtained by shows. DeMarzo, hired on an interim basis to replace former city manager Nick Villano who abruptly resigned on April 1, was made permanent just weeks later ― before a proper background check was conducted, said the city's personnel director Doug Johnson. The 'hiring was done backward,' Johnson said, adding that a background check was not conducted until after the Council took its May 6 vote to hire DeMarzo. … The moves disregarded a long-standing policy on background checks and leaves the city vulnerable to potential lawsuits, Johnson said.'
GET DOVER IT — 'Dover councilman refuses deal on misconduct charge, declaring 'I did nothing wrong',' by The Daily Record's William Westhoven: 'Embattled Dover Councilman Sergio Rodriguez lost his bid for re-election last week in the Democratic primary. On Monday, he mounted a new campaign to fight what he defiantly labeled as 'politically motivated' criminal charges. Rodriguez, 30, was back in state Superior Court for the June 16 hearing. He declined a pretrial intervention deal offered by prosecutors that could have led to clearing his record of the assault and official misconduct charges he has accumulated since taking office in January 2023. In February, Rodriguez had expressed an interest in the deal. Now, he says he is rejecting he PTI offer due to one provision: He would have to resign from his public office. 'They know I lost my election and my term is up on Dec. 31, when I will have to leave office anyway,' Rodriguez said after the hearing at the Morris County Courthouse. 'But they just won't let up on the resignation.' … Rodriguez had previously been arrested for simple assault in February 2024. Both incidents allegedly took place in downtown Dover during confrontations with homeless men who the Ward 2 Democrat said were drinking alcohol and then urinating and defecating in public.'
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JAILERS TO FEED HIM ONLY BREAD AND SPARKLING WATER — 'Former Hoboken Health Director Pellegrini sentenced to 2 years for embezzlement,' by Hudson County View's John Heinis: 'Former Hoboken Department of Health and Human Services Director Leo Pellegrini received a two-year prison sentence for embezzling hundreds and thousands of dollars from the city, Interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced. … While working for the City of Hoboken, Pellegrini embezzled money from the City of Hoboken by diverting approximately $223,500 in payments intended for the City of Hoboken to bank accounts he controlled, according to court documents.'
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EVERYTHING ELSE
YOUTH SPORTS — 'Prey to play Youth sports breed sexual predators in N.J. New look-up tool reveals staggering data,' by NJ Advance Media's Matthew Stanmyre and Keith Sargeant: 'Youth sports in New Jersey have become infested with a shockingly high number of sexual predators. Indeed, a first-of-its-kind database compiled by NJ Advance Media tracking sexual predation in youth and high school sports shows that, since 2015, at least 118 youth sports coaches, trainers or industry workers have been accused of sex crimes across the state. That includes at least 62 instances of alleged sexual misconduct since 2020 alone — and 10 since the beginning of this year. Experts caution there are likely more instances of abuse happening over the same time frame that are not publicly known. For instance, the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a nonprofit that aims to reduce sexual abuse of minors and athletes in sports, lists 23 additional coaches with New Jersey ties in its centralized disciplinary database, meaning they've been deemed ineligible or suspended after an investigation found them in violation of the organization's code. That brings the total number of state coaches accused of misconduct to 141 in 10 years. The disturbing data has compelled several experts to describe a sexual abuse crisis in athletics.'
BLACKWOOD HORROR — 'They said she was home-schooled. She said she was locked in a dog crate,' by The New York Times' Sarah Maslin Nir: 'It was dark out when the barefoot teenage girl barreled through the door of Susan Lacey's cottage in Blackwood, N.J., and released a torrent of words. She said she had been locked in a dog crate for a year and handcuffed to a toilet and not allowed to eat and didn't go to school but she did get to take the dogs outside and her stepfather sometimes touched her but she got to listen to music and ate from a bucket but her little sister didn't have to and she was really, truly Freddie Mercury, from Queen. She giggled. Ms. Lacey sat her down on the couch and told her to breathe. It took a moment for Ms. Lacey to recognize her: It was her neighbor's daughter, and though the girl lived just feet away, she was rarely seen outdoors, and had been home-schooled for the past seven years. She was 18 years old, her hair was shaved close and uneven, and she smelled foul. … Now prosecutors say they believe the teenager's claims of captivity and abuse. Camden County prosecutors have leveled more than 30 criminal charges combined against the girl's mother, Brenda Spencer, 38, and stepfather, Branndon Mosley, 41, including aggravated assault, criminal restraint, kidnapping and weapons offenses. Mr. Mosley is also facing numerous counts of sexual assault. Both could face up to life in prison if convicted of some of the most serious charges.'
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