Noticias

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Morris Township Deputy Mayor Jeff Grayzel filed with the Federal Election Commission as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s 11th district.

“This is not a challenge to Mikie Sherrill, but I have to be prepared,” Grayzel told the New Jersey Globe.

The two-time mayor announced in February that he was mulling a congressional run if Sherrill was not a candidate for a fifth term, and said in July that he would run if Sherrill is elected governor.

He’s the second candidate to affirmatively say he wants to run in the 11th district, assuming the seat becomes open; last December, Chatham Borough Councilman Justin Strickland, a retired U.S. Army captain who served two combat tours in Iraq, filed campaign paperwork for what could be a special election in early 2026.  Former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) has also publicly expressed interest in the seat, and a whole host of other Democrats, including plenty of local state legislators and county and local elected officials, are looking at the race as well.

Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill (D-Montclair) and Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett (D-Wayne) are almost certain to run; other possible candidates include: Assemblywoman Rosy Bagolie (D-Livingston); South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum, who was the running mate of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, one of Sherrill’s opponents, in last week’s gubernatorial primary; activist Anna Lee Williams; Jack Miller, the former communications director at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under Joe Biden, who was raised in Morristown and lives in Montclair; and Cammie Croft, the new media rapid response director for Obama and the deputy new media director at the White House.

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The Green Party candidate for governor has dropped out of the race, leaving activists until August 21 to gather the 2,000 signatures needed to get a replacement candidate on the ballot.

Stephen N. Zielinski, Sr. sent a withdrawal letter to the New Jersey Division of Elections saying that he was dropping out due to health and personal reasons.

New Jersey election law offers independent candidates the option of picking a new candidate, but only by starting over with new petitions.  If the Green Party is unable to secure a new round of signatures, they won’t have a candidate in the general election.  That’s a different standard from major party nominees, who would be replaced on the ballot after a vote of the respective state committee members.

Zielinski missed the July 28 statutory deadline to pick a lieutenant governor candidate.

In 2024, the Green Party ran candidates for U.S. Senate and in all twelve congressional districts; this year, the party fielded Zielinski and just two Assembly candidates: Robin Brownfield in the Camden-based 5th district and Steve Welzer in the Mercer/Middlesex 14th.

The last three Green Party candidates polled under one-half of one percent: Madelyn Hoffman (2021), Seth Haper Dale (2017), Welzer (2013), Jerry Coleman (2001), and Hoffman (1997); the top Green Party performer in a New Jersey governor’s race was Matthew Thielke, who received seven-tenths of one-percent in 2005.  The Green Party did not field a candidate in 2009.

This was Zielinski’s third bid for public office: he received 1.8% of the vote as the Green Party candidate for State Assembly in the 12th district against Republican incumbents Ronald Dancer (R-Plumsted) and Rob Clifton (R-Matawan) in 2015; and he lost an independent bid for Shrewsbury Borough Council in 1992.

Zielinski and three other Green Party officials did not respond to calls seeking comment

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A judge has ordered the Camden County GOP’s former chairman to pay nearly $1,000 after failing to comply with a subpoena in a libel lawsuit that state Sen. Paul Moriarty (D-Washington) leveled against the county party last year.

Moriarty sued the Camden GOP and its previous chairman, Thomas Crone Jr., for defamation over a mailer distributed in the days leading up to the Democrat’s election to the state Senate in 2023. The mailer allegedly called Moriarty a “drunk driver,” an apparent reference to an unlawful DWI arrest in 2012 that led to the firing of a Washington Township police officer and a $50,000 settlement.

The Camden GOP, now chaired by Kimberley Stuart, denied distributing the mailer in a legal filing.

Crone, however, failed to comply with a subpoena that asked for his testimony and relevant documents. Late last week, Superior Court Judge Steven Polansky ordered Crone to pay $934 in attorney fees for his “previous failure to comply” with the subpoena and demanded he appear for a deposition next Tuesday. Polansky ruled that if Crone fails to appear that day, the Republican will be held in contempt and could face discipline, including “incarceration for his willful non-compliance.”

Crone said he would need to speak with his attorney before commenting.

Stuart ousted Crone as Camden GOP chair in early July 2024.

DWI charges against Moriarty were dropped after authorities found Washington Township police officer Joseph DiBuonaventura lied about the initial reasons for the stop. DiBuonaventura faced more than a dozen criminal charges stemming from the incident and was acquitted in a 2015 trial.

In his lawsuit, Moriarty accused the Camden GOP of distributing the mailer on or about Oct. 30, about one week before Election Day in 2023. The mailer included a disclaimer that stated the Camden GOP paid for the attack.

Moriarty, who represented the 4th legislative district in the Assembly from 2006 to 2024, defeated Republican former Washington Township Councilmember Christopher Del Borrello for the Senate seat by about 10 percentage points in the 2023 general election.

Moriarty’s complaint said he requested a retraction and a public apology from Crone after the election, but alleges the former chair declined.

In addition to being the county chair, Stuart represents the Camden GOP in the case. In her answer to Moriarty’s complaint, she denied the allegations that the organization disseminated the mailer. In the reply, she said the party acted “reasonably” and claimed Moriarty is “unable to demonstrate any actual damage, injury or loss.”

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