8 Congress Candidates In NJ-10 Call Foul On Democratic Party Leaders

NEW JERSEY — Several congressional candidates in New Jersey’s 10th District are calling foul on Democratic Party leaders in the wake of a hotly contested special primary election.

Residents of the district have been without a voice in the U.S. House of Representatives following the death of Donald Payne Jr. in April. See Related: Mourning Continues For NJ Congressman With ‘Big Heart’

Gov. Phil Murphy announced that a special election will be held to fill the rest of Payne’s unexpired term. A primary election was held to choose Democratic and Republican nominees on July 16. The winners and any independent candidates will face off again on Sept. 18 in the general election. A full term will be up for grabs in the general election on Nov. 5.

Carmen Bucco was the sole Republican candidate on the ballot. Meanwhile, a large field of candidates competed for the Democratic Party nomination: LaMonica McIver, Derek Armstead, Brittany Claybrooks, John Flora, Darryl Godfrey, Alberta Gordon, Eugene Mazo, Shana Melius, Sheila Montague, Jerry Walker and Debra Salters.

The Associated Press has called the race in favor of LaMonica McIver, although the results remain uncertified.

• See Related: NJ-10 Special Primary Election Results: McIver Wins Dem Race, AP Says
• See Related: LaMonica McIver Of Newark Claims Big Primary Election Win

On Tuesday morning – prior to the close of polls – eight of the Democratic candidates put out a joint statement, alleging that the county committees’ ensuing selection process “appears to be an attempt to rig the system for the party’s preferred candidate.”

Signatories to the statement included Derek Armstead, Brittany Claybrooks, John Flora, Shana Melius, Sheila Montague, Darryl Godfrey, Eugene Mazo and Debra Salters.

The eight candidates are demanding that the three county committees which represent the 10th District – Essex, Hudson and Union – set a new nominating convention date ahead of Thursday evening, when it is scheduled to take place.

According to a letter filed by Bridgewater Mayor Matthew Moench, the attorney representing all eight candidates, several committee members and candidates have not received “proper notification” of the nominating convention, contravening the committee bylaws and the state statute.

Moench’s letter alleges that the rules of the nominating convention “set arbitrary deadlines” for key benchmarks and notices, making it “nearly impossible” for most candidates to receive the requisite nominating support.

Their allegations included:

1. N.J.S.A. 19:13-20 vests with the chairs solely the power to set a date for the special convention and to do so within seven days of the vacancy. You did not do so within the time required, depriving interested parties with several weeks of additional notice.
2. All of your by-laws require that the meeting notices be sent in writing 5 or 7 days prior to any special meetings, which would include a special meeting to select a candidate for Congress. You did not do so invalidating this meeting.
3. You have promulgated “rules” which you have no power to issue. N.J.S.A. 19:13-20 explicitly provides the committee members at the convention with the sole authority to determine credentialing of voters and the process by which they will use to determine how the meeting will run.
4. You have no power to determine “ballot access” in advance of the meeting and have no legal power to set forth deadlines for submitting letters of intent, setting forth requirements for nomination forms, prohibiting nominations from the floor, or otherwise limiting who the committee members will consider or how they will do so. Again, those issues are explicitly limited to the committee members in the statute.
5. Your “rules” dictate that the candidate receiving the “majority” of votes at the meeting shall receive the endorsement of the Counties. However, “majority” as defined by case law means more than 50%. The rules provide for no process as to how additional rounds of voting would be accomplished until one candidate receives a majority.
6. Finally, the entire process, including running the process in the days leading up to and immediately after the special primary, setting artificial deadlines on short notice, failing to notify all of the candidates competing in the special primary of the convention set forth a process which is not designed to be fair, but to be as lopsided as possible for one candidate to the detriment of others. It is further reported the rules, dates, and procedures were provided in advance to some individuals but not all, further compounding the unreasonable and arbitrary process.

The results of Tuesday’s special primary election may not even be fully certified by the convention date, the eight candidates pointed out.

The candidates added:

“Transparency, good governance, ethics, and the rule of law are pillars of our society, and that is why we have united together to uphold rule of law in the democratic process. The constituents of New Jersey CD-10 deserve the right to cast their votes, be duly notified of important meetings for their future representatives, and receive sufficient time for the democratic process to occur properly. We demand that the state party leadership follow the rule of law and stop interfering with the voice of the people who live in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District.”

Patch reached out to party chairs LeRoy Jones Jr., Anthony Vainieri Jr. and Nicholas Scutari via email seeking comment about the candidates’ statement. We will update this article with any reply we receive.

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