Editor’s note: this article was originally published on May 29.
With voting already underway, many Maplewood and South Orange voters don’t realize that they have contested elections right in their backyard for this June’s primary.
In Maplewood, one contested election is rather obvious: Lawns signs abound for the three candidates vying for two spots in the Democratic primary for the Maplewood Township Committee — the body that governs the municipality.
But more granular elections are taking place within the South Orange and Maplewood Democratic Committees — or County Committees. Two district leaders are elected for each district — there are 12 districts in South Orange and 21 districts in Maplewood. Currently, there are only Democratic committees active in each town. District leaders help to register voters and get out the vote on election day for Democratic candidates. In Maplewood, they also vet and endorse candidates for the Township Committee annually.
Usually, no one contests the district elections. In fact, a number of the seats remain unfilled. And while several races are contested this year, no one is running in several other races. (You must live in the district where you seek election, so candidates can’t choose to run in districts with unfilled seats if they don’t live there.)
See all the district candidates on the Maplewood sample ballots here:
https://www.essexclerk.com/_Content/pdf/Maplewood-2024-Primary-Sample.pdf
See all the district candidates on South Orange sample ballots here:
https://www.essexclerk.com/_Content/pdf/South-Orange-2024-Primary-Sample.pdf
So why are some spots contested this year?
Melissa Renny, running with the “Fair Ballot Democrats”, is campaigning for a seat in Maplewood’s District 7, where incumbents Dean Dafis (former mayor and current Township Committee member) and Richard Greenberg are running as “Essex County Democratic Committee, Inc.”
Renny, who has worked to improve swim equity as Chair of the Maplewood Pool Advisory Committee, says she’s running because, “Before I ran for District Leader, I had no idea who my representatives were on the Essex County Democratic Committee, or even what a District Leader does. District Leader is an important role, and our elected representatives should be in contact with their constituents. If elected as District Leader for Maplewood District 7, I will be committed to providing the community engagement and transparency that is currently lacking.”
Related: What Is the Maplewood Democratic Committee & What Does It Do?
Asked to comment, Dafis and Greenberg sent a statement that highlighted their community engagement and retail campaigning as well as big “D” Democratic values:
“We’re thrilled to be running again to get out the vote in this most consequential election, as we have successfully done in many election cycles for Democrats everywhere. Proud of work on the MDC in ballot reform in one of the most politically influential counties in the state, and in championing the progressive values that represent our community and just causes that promote good government, transparency, accountability, civic engagement, equity and inclusion.” Dafis and Greenberg said there were dedicated to “protecting our Democracy in this election by producing Democrats at the ballot boxes for reproductive freedom, voting rights, LGBTQ+ equality, sensible gun control, community policing, housing and economic equity, affordable and gender affirming healthcare, inclusive safe schools and curriculum. Door by door and conversation by conversation, we carry on our ongoing collaboration with neighbors and community based organizations to better represent the interests of our District. We believe that we (and the rest of our fellow MDC District Leaders) exemplify the best of Democrats anywhere, not just in Maplewood.”
Maplewood Democratic Committee Vice Chair Rebecca Scheer, running unopposed in District 19 with Stephen Sigmund under the Essex County Dems banner, says she welcomes the competition from Fair Ballot Dems but that she supports the incumbents.
“I am so proud of the work that the Maplewood Democratic Committee has done in recent years to get out the vote for our Democratic candidates up and down the ballot. We have also worked hard to reform the endorsement process in our own local Committee to welcome a broader array of candidates and to encourage competitive elections, as well as to challenge aspects of the County and State Party that still need reform. I urge Democrats in Districts 7 and 8 to vote for Dean Dafis and Richard Greenberg (District 7), and Fred Profeta and Gail Safian (District 8) for District Leader, for their new and continued leadership in the future of our Committee.” (Scheer also provided a release from the Maplewood Democratic Committee and a joint release from both the South Orange and Maplewood Democratic committees; see attached below along with a release from the South Orange Democratic Committee.)
Scheer also said that the MDC has been working to get out the word about its work:
“The Maplewood Democrats also have a website, which includes a map of all of our voting districts and contact information for all district leaders, so that constituents have a way to reach out to their district leaders. We also have a newsletter and a Mobilize group that all are welcome to sign up for to be kept in the loop about gotv opportunities and other voter information. Also, just this past January, in anticipation of the candidate filing deadline, we held two virtual information sessions about the role of district leader and how to run, as part of our ongoing efforts to recruit new members. In addition to our outreach efforts, [Village Green] has published numerous articles about the MDC, including one a few years ago about the Maplewood Democratic Committee and the role of its district leaders.”
Jessica James is running for District 8 with the Fair Ballot Democrats, vying for one of two seats along with long-term district leaders (former Mayor) Fred Profeta and Gail Safian for the seat.
“I’m running against a 24 year incumbent because I’ve lived in this district for seven years and never knew I had one, let alone that I could and should be working with them to ensure my values as a democratic constituent were being reflected at the county level,” James wrote to Village Green. “I’m proud that my running has sparked a conversation within our community and amongst neighbors about topics that, to my knowledge, have never been publicly discussed and debated before. Challengers are good for democracy!”
Profeta, speaking on behalf of himself and Safian, agreed with James on this front, saying he was “very proud to be running in a contested district leader race this year.”
“Three years ago I led a subcommittee of the Maplewood Democratic Committee which successfully pressed the County officials for elimination of the non-competitive County Line on the ballot in Maplewood races. Now that all candidates for Maplewood offices must appear on the same line, there are no ballot position favorites and Maplewood is democratic, from the bottom up.”
However, Profeta said that he and Safian were “ironically” being accused of not “looking like democracy” and being supportive of the County “machine.”
“That is precisely the opposite of what we stand for. In addition to our history of ballot reform, we are the first District Leaders who propose to hold two meetings a year for all of our constituents in an accessible venue where these constituents will be able to discuss the public aspects of our neighborhood that could be improved. We pledge to bring valid concerns to the attention of the appropriate persons at Town Hall for consideration. Both Gail and I have lived in District 8 for over 35 years, and we know its features, its history, and its people very well. We are privileged to serve them.”
South Orange
In South Orange, which only has 13 districts as compared to Maplewood’s 21, the contested elections are in District 1 (Thomas J. Kelly Jr and Philip Casey with the Essex County Democratic Committee and Rebecca Morrison with Fair Ballot Democrats), District 4 (Charlies Manderville and Genevieve Manderville of Essex County Dems and Kyle D. Young of Fair Ballot Dems), and District 6 (Regan White and Lawrence Hirsch of Essex County Dems and Joann Gaughran and Deborah Alessandra of Fair Ballot Dems).
In other districts, Fair Ballot Dem candidates are filling some slots that would have remained empty. Erika Malinoski and Allecyn Ries are running uncontested as Fair Ballot Democrats in District 9. Malinoski says it was difficult to select where to field candidates.
“It was quite difficult to know ahead of time which seats had an incumbent (much less one who planned to stand for reelection) especially since the statewide and regional groups we got advice from on how to run for District Leader warned us that local parties were likely to attempt to shut down any attempts by newcomers to run for office and recommended that we not talk to local municipal chairs until after the filing deadline,” Malinoski told Village Green. “But we figured that should some races end up being competitive, that’s good for democracy, and indeed it has been. New Jersey has a very odd and anti-democratic assumption that it’s somehow illegitimate for people to just run for office without clearing it with the party first, but we don’t think that makes sense.”
See press releases/statements from the South Orange Fair Ballot Democrats, Maplewood Fair Ballot Democratics and a joint SOMA Fair Ballot statement attached below.
Malinoski also wished to point out that her candidacy for District Leader with “Fair Ballot Democrats” is separate from her role in SOMA Action; Malinoski is one of the authors of the SOMA Action Voter Guide, which has received pushback from some other candidates whom Village Green interviewed. However, Malinoski says she has been transparent about her involvement and is the only Fair Ballot Dem to have participated in crafting the guide.
Ritu Pancholy, who previously ran for the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education, is running uncontested as a Fair Ballot Democrat in South Orange District 13 where she is joined on the ballot by Laura Levine of the Essex County Democratic Committee, Inc.
In a statement to Village Green, Pancholy wrote that “Fair Ballot Democrats represents Democratic voters who have consistently voted for Democrats over the years, encouraged their neighbors to vote, and canvassed door to door for those running for office in NJ and other critical states. This year, many of us stepped up to the plate to run for Members of the County Committee (i.e., District Leader) because we believe that politics as usual is no longer sufficient, and we do not have to ask for permission to run for office if we believe that change is necessary.
Pancholy reiterated other Fair Ballot Democrats’ statements about transparency and noted that “Fair Ballot Democrats have successfully recruited 17 candidates to run for district leader in both towns. We pledge to do things differently if we are elected.” Pancholy shared a link to the Fair Ballot Dems’ goals — Joint Statement from the Fair Ballot Democrats.
Pancholy noted that a quarter of all seats in SOMA districts had no representatives “at all” and, “We hope to see more people running in the future and look forward to talking to our neighbors on how to improve the Democratic Party in NJ!”
Village Green counted 18 of 66 seats without a candidate throughout the 33 SOMA districts. Eight seats have no candidates in Maplewood and 10 seats are without candidates in South Orange.
Even with Fair Ballot Dems vying for uncontested seats in several district (notably districts 2 and 17 in Maplewood and districts 9, 12 and 13 in South Orange), the math remains bad with 27% of seats going unfilled.
This story has been updated to add more information from Rebecca Scheer about Maplewood Democratic Committee outreach efforts, as well as statements shared by Erika Malinoski from the South Orange Fair Ballot Democrats and the Maplewood Fair Ballot Democrats, as well as a joint statement from both.
