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Now only two-thirds of NJ district's ticket will be handpicked by party, instead of voters
By
Louis C. Hochman
Published Aug 25, 2023
Modified Aug 25, 2023
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By
Louis C. Hochman
Published Aug 25, 2023
Modified Aug 25, 2023
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Now, only two thirds of the Democratic candidates up for election in New Jersey’s 27th Legislative District will be hand-picked by party leaders — rather than all three.
Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, a political consultant and ally of Gov. Phil Murphy, won’t seek the Assembly seat he had recently put his name up for. He and other party figures had previously negotiated an agreement that would have seen him join the ticket and his wife drop out of the race, amid a complicated re-shuffling, prompted by Sen. Richard Codey’s announcement he’d retire after this term.
Instead, his wife, Alixon Collazos-Gill, who was elected by primary voters, will remain on the ticket — despite previously saying she’d withdraw.
Codey, a former state Senate president and governor with a half-century in the Legislature, had just defeated fellow longtime incumbent state Sen. Nia Gill (who has no relationship to Brendan Gill or Alixon Collazos-Gill) in the primary race, after redistricting set up a rare incumbent-vs.-incumbent contest. Codey, from West Orange, ran with the party’s backing, which confers preferential treatment on the primary ballot in what’s known as the “county line.”
Following their primary victories, Codey had been slated to run on a ticket with Collazos-Gill and longtime running mate John McKeon (D-West Orange). But amid the political maneuvering following Codey’s retirement announcement, party leadership worked out a new plan: McKeon would run for Codey's state Senate seat, instead of the Assembly. Brendan Gill would run for what party leaders described as the Assembly seat that McKeon currently holds and for which he was previously seeking re-election. Collazos-Gill would drop out, and Livingston Township Councilmember Rosaura Bagolie would join the ticket seeking the other Assembly seat in the district.
But that arrangement still remained contingent on the votes of more than 200 Democratic committee members at a special convention meeting in West Orange on Thursday night. Brendan Gill formally announced he was withdrawing at that event. Collazos-Gill told reporters she’d always considered the option of taking back her withdrawal, NJ.com reported.
“Elections matter. Voters matter,” the site quoted her saying. “Stepping away from that — it was something I couldn’t see myself doing. ... I did not see a legitimate reason for why I needed to step away.”
Collazos-Gill hasn't yet returned a message from Gothamist seeking comment Friday.
The final ticket, following the vote, will have McKeon seeking the state Senate seat, and Collazos-Gill and Bagolie seeking the Assembly seats.
Nia Gill, one of the few Black women in the senate, was ineligible to seek a place on the ticket following her primary defeat under what’s known as a “sore loser law.”
"The leadership response in the press this morning been about moving on. I do not see how we heal when we do not have honesty or reform," Elizabeth Redwine, a West Orange resident and member of the Essex County Democratic Committee who attended the meeting Thursday night, said. “So, I am happy with the representation that resulted from last night's meeting, but I am dissatisfied with the process because it disenfranchised Democratic voters in our district. I am hopeful that this experience will give momentum to election reform in New Jersey.”
The Democratic candidates are slated to face Republicans Michael Byrne for the state Senate seat, and Irene DeVita and Jonathan Sym for the Assembly seats. Democrats are heavily favored to win: As of the primary election, there were more than 87,500 registered Democrats in the district and about 26,300 registered Republicans.
Political reformers in the Essex party previously told Gothamist they’d been upset by the political maneuvering that would have created a ticket entirely devoid of people who’d sought the same seats in the primary. Brendan Gill said earlier this week he’d been interested in seeking a nomination before the primary, but didn’t want to create a ticket entirely composed of three white men. The plan to introduce Bagolie to the ticket meant that even if his wife departed the lineup, a woman would still be part of the slate.
The district includes Livingston, Millburn, Montclair, Roseland and West Orange in Essex County, and Clifton in Passaic County.
— Includes reporting by Nancy Solomon
This story has been updated to indicate Collazos-Gill hasn't yet returned a message, and to include a comment from Elizabeth Redwine.
Tagged
new jersey
Politics
Louis C. Hochman
After about two decades in (mostly) New Jersey-focused commercial print, digital and digital-but-radio-adjacent news, Lou stumbled into member-supported news in early 2021, as the editor and CEO of Montclair Local. There, he (hopes he) expanded enterprise, brought more sophistication to digital storytelling and moved the nonprofit newsroom closer to long-term financial sustainability. He helped lead the Local to its fourth consecutive General Excellence award from the New Jersey Press Association — the NJPA's highest honor with judges noting the paper's work to strip away layers of government opacity, to hold power to account, to make news accessible for more members of the community, to share the stories and concerns of more facets of the community and to tell compelling stories across multiple media. He's excited to continue the same ethic — news as a public service — at NYPR as the New Jersey and suburbs editor, drawing on the extraordinary talents of reporters including Karen Yi and Nancy Solomon. Lou lives in Philly (that commute!) with his partner and their two cats, about whom and about which he speaks incessantly.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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