Who’s running in the county commissioner races in Gloucester, Burlington, and Camden Counties

Amid national midterm buzz, voters in Gloucester, Burlington, and Camden Counties will cast ballots for their county commissioners.

The three South Jersey county commissioners have staggered terms, which means only some seats are up for election this year.

In Gloucester County, a fiery slate of candidates is trying to increase Republican power on the board, which is a majority Democratic.

In Burlington County, two Republican candidates are campaigning together with hopes of getting GOP representation on an all-Democratic board.

And in Camden County, two longtime Democratic incumbents face a challenge from only one Republican who unsuccessfully ran for the post before.

The seven-member board currently has five Democrats and two Republicans. Three Democrats and three Republicans are running to fill three positions on the board. The terms are three years and the seven positions are staggered, so candidates are not all up for reelection at the same time.

The two sitting Republican commissioners, Chris Konowel and Nick DeSilvio, flipped commissioner posts in 2021 after Democrats had all the seats on the board, and both were reelected in 2024.

Democrats: County Commissioner Deputy Director Jim Jefferson and Commissioners Joann Gattinelli and Matthew Weng are running for reelection.

Jefferson, 44, a Woodbury-based minister who has traveled the country to minister in prisons, is finishing his fourth term on the board and his first as deputy director.

In remarks at a Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce candidate forum last month, he said he has been a liaison for the county’s health and human services department for his 12 years as a commissioner, and he has been particularly passionate about lowering overdoses in the county with the use of Narcan.

“A lot of people came to me and said, ‘Jim, you’re just enabling those who struggle with substance abuse.’ I said, ‘No, they can’t get help unless they’re alive,’” he said.

Gattinelli, 61, a former mayor of Washington Township, and Weng, a Pitman-based attorney, are finishing their first terms, which began in January 2024.

The three commissioners are campaigning together on a platform of saving taxpayers money, building up the local economy, and protecting the quality of life in the county.

They tout getting the highest bond rating from Moody’s, forging partnerships between Rowan University and community colleges, and preserving open space.

“Throughout my tenure here the last three years, we have accomplished so much,” Gattinelli said at the candidate forum. “You don’t just get a AAA rating through Moody’s by sitting back and just signing off or rubber-stamping, as they say.

“We ask questions. We are there with people who are explaining to us, within government, what is happening and how we can be fiscally responsible,” added Gattinelli, a former small-business owner who serves as an economic development liaison.

Weng, 45, who previously served on the Pitman Borough Council and worked as the staff attorney to the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, has recently touted online the county’s efforts to preserve farmland and open space.

Republicans: Martino Cartier, Barbara McCormick, and Katherine Falcone are running in hopes of ousting the three Democratic commissioners up for reelection.

Cartier, 51, is a celebrity hairstylist who runs the nonprofit Wigs and Wishes. He has faced scrutiny over controversial comments on his Christian podcast, past legal issues, and issues with his charity. Before launching his campaign, he had been embraced by local Democrats who celebrated his charity and lauded him as a “hometown hero.”

Cartier said in an interview that if elected, his priority would be seeking counsel on how to fire Gloucester County Democratic Committee chair Steve Sweeney as county administrator and Michelle Coryell as deputy administrator. He echoed criticism from sitting Republican commissioners about Sweeney’s high salary, which Democrats have defended in part because of his extensive experience in government as former state Senate president. Sweeney has a five-year contract with the county.

Cartier accused the county of having a “hostile work environment.”

“I would clean that up so that people are efficient and they want to serve the seniors with a smile, and they want to serve people with disabilities with a smile, and the veterans, and the list goes on and on,” he said in an interview.

McCormick, 63, retired from a career as a nurse and Air Force lieutenant colonel. She said she has advocated in Trenton and Washington for issues such as workplace violence and sepsis awareness and for veteran support initiatives.

“I believe responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars must remain a top priority,” she said at the Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce forum. “I will work to strengthen our economy, support public service, and ensure county government operates efficiently and transparently.”

Falcone, 67, is the founder and CEO of SOS Group, a home construction company aimed at accommodating people with disabilities. She served on the Monroe Township Council from 2019 to 2022, and left the Democratic Party to become a Republican in 2022.

Falcone said in a video on Facebook that the Republican candidates are running on three main principles: transparency, affordability, and accountability.

One or two members of the five-member board are elected each year for a three-year term. This year, voters will pick two candidates out of the four running on their ballots. Each candidate is on the ballot separately, but commissioners on both sides of the aisle are campaigning as a slate.

Democrats gained unanimous control of the board in the 2020 election after it had been fully Republican just a few years prior.

Candidates for county surrogate are campaigning with commissioner candidates. The county surrogate oversees the county’s Surrogate Court, which deals with wills, estates, and the appointment of guardians and administering adoption.

Democrats: Commissioner Randy Brolo is running for reelection and Jonathan Chebra is running to fill an open seat.

Brolo, 48, of Lumberton, is finishing his first term as a commissioner. He has had a career in the labor movement and currently works as an organizer for Laborers’ Local 172, which represents heavy and highway laborers as well as plant and manufacturing employees.

Serving kids and adults with special needs is particularly important to Brolo, as one of his kids is on the autism spectrum. He hosted an event in April called Autism in my Shoes that he said he wants to hold again.

He said he would like to provide support to municipalities that want to pursue affordable housing opportunities. He previously served on the Rancocas Valley Regional High School Board of Education as well as the Mount Holly Municipal Utilities Authority and the Lumberton Planning Board.

“I was out in the community right away, day one on the job. … I’m always out and about,” Brolo said in an interview.

Chebra, 39, of Bordentown, is running for office for the first time because he wants to “give back in a new way,” he said in an interview. Chebra has served as the chair of the Burlington County Library Commission for the last seven years.

“Keeping Burlington County affordable, keeping taxes low, is job number one,” he said, noting that the county ranked lowest for average tax rate in the state.

He said he is passionate about supporting seniors as they age in the county.

Chebra works as vice president of regulatory and community affairs for Hackensack Meridian Health. He previously worked for the New Jersey Department of Human Services and the New Jersey Hospital Association. From 2012 to 2016, he worked as Democratic U.S. Rep. Herb Conaway’s chief of staff when he was a member of the New Jersey Assembly, and before that he had roles in the U.S. Senate.

Brian Carlin, 65, who has served as county surrogate since 2022, is running for reelection alongside them.

Republicans: Joseph Abegg and James Melton are hoping to bring Republican representation to the board, which is currently all Democratic. If they both are elected, they would still hold a minority on the five-member board.

Abegg, 67, of Eastampton Township, unsuccessfully ran for commissioner last year against Democratic Commissioner Allison Eckel, who serves as the body’s deputy director. He garnered a little more than 39% of the vote. He is a retired Air Force and commercial pilot and holds several volunteer positions.

The former Democrat said in an interview that he and Melton are determined to rein in spending in the county budget. They want to create a committee of “overseers” with various subject matter expertise and different political leanings to assess the county’s finances.

“I’m against all these warehouses and low-income housing areas unless the community wants it,” Abegg said. “But the real reason I’m in this is because I see the mindless overspending that’s going on. It’s causing our property taxes to soar, and our people can’t afford to live here.”

Melton, 58, of Burlington City, is a Navy veteran who works as a security officer and volunteers coaching underserved youth. He is a retired Camden city police detective and also worked as a corrections officer, yeoman petty officer, and drill sergeant. He said in a written statement that he wants “to prioritize the protection of our natural landscapes and farmland from overdevelopment.”

The two candidates are running on a slate with surrogate candidate Dale McPeak, who earned a spot on the ballot through a write-in campaign in the primary after being removed from the ballot. McPeak, 64, of Southampton Township, is a retired physical therapist.

“We want Joe and James — knowing that we’re not going to be the majority — to at least be the checks and balance in there,” she said.

Voters pick two candidates for county commissioner. Two Democrats and one Republican are running for two seats on the seven-member board. Commissioners serve three-year staggered terms, so only two or three run for reelection at a time.

Republicans are running one repeat candidate against two Democratic incumbents.

Republicans have not elected a commissioner — or, under the previous name, a freeholder — in Camden County since 1990.

Democrats: Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr. and Commissioner Jonathan Young are running for reelection.

Cappelli, 64, a Haddonfield resident and attorney, was first elected to the board in 2003 and has been its director for two decades. In his county bio, he touts creating the Camden County Police Department as well as a decrease in violent crime, upgrades to the county’s 911 system, and the establishment of the Camden County Office of Mental Health and Addiction. He also was at the forefront of leading the community through the COVID-19 pandemic, according to his bio.

Young, 57, of Berlin Township, has been on the board since 2015. He is a political director for the Eastern Atlantic State Regional Council of Carpenters.

He serves as a liaison to the Camden County Department of Corrections, the Juvenile Detention Center, the county’s one-stop career center and workforce development board, and the Camden County Department of Sustainability, according to his county bio.

He also works closely with the Camden County Technical Schools Advisory Committee.

Republicans: Robert Stone, 66, of Stratford, has worked for 32 years as a 911 responder and emergency medical services professional, according to his biography on the Camden County Republican Committee website.

His biography says he has also held management positions in Fortune 500 companies but does not say which ones.

He describes himself as a “Full time Disney and Universal Studios expert” on Facebook, which says he owns Mouse Dreams Vacations, a company for planning Disney vacations.

He has unsuccessfully run for commissioner multiple times, including last year, and does not appear to have a platform available online. His recent Facebook posts do not mention running for office. He declined to speak Friday, saying he would only do an interview in person and is away on vacation until after the election.

Republican Shane Bernat, 38, a real estate investor who has also run in the past, was planning to run in the race but did not get on the ballot.