Ocean County’s five State Committee votes stick with Jones

Five Democratic State Committee votes from Ocean County are holding strong for LeRoy Jones despite personal appeals from Gov. Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy over the past several days, the New Jersey Globe has learned.

Jones met with all but one of Ocean’s six state committee members tonight – he spoke to the other by phone today – and has secured commitments from the entire delegation, according to numerous sources who confirmed details of the conversations.

The meeting was arranged by Ocean County Democratic Chairman Wyatt Earp, who provided Jones with a crucial endorsement last week in his bid to unseat Democratic State Chairman John Currie.

Earp is also a state committeeman.

Jones, the Essex County Democratic Chairman, leads Currie by a 55 to 43 margin, according to a Globe tally of the 113-member New Jersey Democratic State Committee.   These numbers have held for the last eight days.

The magic number to win the race is 49 ½.   There are 98 total votes, since some state committee members wield full votes and others have half votes.

Murphy is trying to peel back 6 ½ votes to re-elect Currie, who has held the post since 2013.  Just six votes would put the two into a tie.

While Murphy has been backing Currie, Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver has endorsed Jones.