Atlantic, Cape May County Democrats Unite Ahead Of Elections

Two Democratic parties in two largely Republican South Jersey counties have announced they are joining forces. The Atlantic County and Cape May County Democratic Committees have come together to form the Cape-Atlantic Democratic Unity, the chairmans of the two parties announced Thursday morning.

“Grassroots organizing is critical to the success of the Democratic Party in Atlantic County,” Atlantic County Democratic Chairman Michael Suleiman said. “I’m proud that we’re partnering with Chairman Sciarra and the Cape May County Democrats so that our respective organizations continue to grow in years to come.”

“Michael and I share the view that while our respective counties have historically been Republican that there are opportunities to begin to reverse that trend. This is an exciting time for the Democratic Party in New Jersey as we control all three branches of government and both US Senate seats. We have proven records of success here at the shore in towns where our Democratic candidates have had the opportunity to govern and we want to help tell that story to more and more residents. It is important to have the party infrastructure in place to recruit the best and most dedicated members of our communities and then help all of our candidates succeed,” Cape May County Democratic Chairman Brendan Sciarra said. “Our partnership with the Atlantic County Democrats will help candidates in both counties succeed in future years.”

The announcement comes at a time when Democrats are focusing on the Second Congressional District seat. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-2) has held that seat since 1995, but is retiring at the end of the year. Democrats are looking to flip that seat in November. State Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1), Republican Seth Grossman, Libertarian John Ordille and independent candidates Steven Fenichel, Anthony Parisi Sanchez and William Benfer are all pursuing the seat.

The Democrat in that race has the financial edge, as Van Drew has banked $636,000 as of Thursday, according to the New Jersey Globe. Grossman has $80,000 banked but has received national attention for his comments during the Republican Primary that “diversity is a bunch of crap.”

Both counties represent an uphill climb for Democrats, although the climb is much steeper in Cape May County. In Cape May County, there are only 16,445 registered Democrats, compared to 28,468 registered Republicans and 25,570 unaffiliated voters. In 2016, Republican Donald Trump received more than 57 percent of the votes cast in the presidential election over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

In Atlantic County, there are actually more registered Democrats than Republicans. There are 61,829 registered Democrats, as opposed to 47,108 registered Republicans. Most voters are unaffiliated, a total of 72,607 of the 183,100 registered voters. In 2016, Clinton edged Trump among Atlantic County voters with 51.15 percent of the vote.

Cape-Atlantic Democratic Unity will feature joint fundraising and voter contact efforts to help recruit candidates, enact public policy, and to help individual municipal Democratic organizations grow. For more information or to get involved, email CapeAtlanticDemocraticUnity@gmail.com.

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