Cherry Hill progressives win appeal of an election case, handing a loss to the Norcross machine in fight for control of the local party
“We’re pleased the appellate division saw this for what it was: a brazen power grab by the machine,” said an attorney who represented the progressive candidates.
In a blow for the South Jersey Democratic machine, an appeals court on Friday reversed a judge’s ruling that had altered the primary election win of progressive Democrats from Cherry Hill last June.
The finding of the New Jersey Appellate Division’s three-judge panel was unanimous, paving the way for progressives to have more of a hand in local politics.
The ruling will allow the three progressives who won last year’s primary to pick 71 individuals from Cherry Hill to represent the community in the 522-member Camden County party committee, which has the task of endorsing candidates for office. Cherry Hill is allowed a total of 74 people.
Progressives have long said that the Camden County Democratic Committee Inc. (CCDC), the Democratic machine backed by George E. Norcross III, has worked to preclude anyone other than hand-picked individuals from sitting on the committee, locking out other voices.
“We’re ready to go to work,” said Susan Druckenbrod, one of the winners of the primary to serve on the party committee. “I’m thrilled.”
The ruling stems from a lawsuit brought last summer by the CCDC, along with its chairman James Beach, against the progressive Democrats.
On the primary ballot, voters were instructed to choose from one of two lists of candidates: the first comprised just three progressives — Druckenbrod, David Stahl and Rena Margulis — while the second included 74 CCDC candidates. In an upset, voters responded by awarding the progressives 62% of the ballots cast in a vote of 5,547 to 3,350.
When the CCDC sued, it claimed that the progressives failed to put together a slate of 74 candidates on the ballot and would need to fill the remaining seats with the losing slate’s candidates. Camden County Superior Court Judge Michael Kassel agreed.
But in reversing Kassel, the appellate court said it wasn’t necessary to list 74 people, and that the three winning progressives could pick whoever they wanted for the vacant seats.
The CCDC, Beach, and their attorneys didn’t respond to requests for comment.
In an interview Friday, Yael Bromberg, the attorney who represented the winning candidates, declared her clients “vindicated” by the ruling.
“We’re pleased the appellate division saw this for what it was: a brazen power grab by the machine.”
