Today, Rep. Mikie Sherrill earned a significant victory in Monmouth County, her third Democratic county convention.
Sherrill defeated Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark, 338-96, with 30 votes for Sean Spiller, president of the New Jersey Education Association.
Earlier this month, the Montclair congressman, who has served four terms, received party endorsements in Hunterdon and Mercer counties.
The importance of convention wins has decreased due to the removal of county organization lines and the switch to office block votes; Sherill can still run in the Democratic primary on June 10 using the organization tagline, but the line no longer confers an advantageous ballot position.
On Wednesday, Representative Josh Gottheimers declared that he would not attend conventions in which he thought the result was already decided. However, his name was still on the ballot since he didn’t formally inform party officials until last night. Both former Senate President Steve Sweeney and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop have previously declared they would not run in Monmouth.
Chelsea Brossard, Gottheimer’s campaign manager, stated, “We have a policy of not attending charade conventions where the county party leadership has pre-baked the outcome against us where the fix is in.”
Democratic Chair Dyese Davis of Monmouth County defended the procedure, stating that her county has been and continues to be one of the most transparent and open conventions in New Jersey.
To be clear, she told delegates this morning, “I am deeply disappointed not only by the congressman’s lack of direct communication regarding his decision, but also by the baseless allegations made against Monmouth County Democrats.” Year after year, this is the same Monmouth County that has hosted fair and open conventions. This is the same Monmouth County that employs secret ballots to guarantee that the electorate’s will are honored. This is the same Monmouth County that massively voted for Senator Andy Kim last year, who has openly and accurately attacked machine politics and ballot systems.
According to Brossard, Gottheimer expressed gratitude to the members of the municipal committee for their warm reception.
She stated that he had generated over $119,000 for Monmouth County Democrats and happily contributed to their cause. Josh will keep addressing voters personally in Monmouth and throughout the state.
After Davis and party officials expanded voting chances for county committee members and other delegates, Monmouth had a high turnout. For those who were unable to vote in person today, ballots could be sent in, and the voting machines were open from 10 AM to 4 PM so that delegates may cast their ballots whenever it was most convenient for them.
