Fulop-backed candidate to be kicked off ballot in LD-14

A judge is expected to kick Democratic Assembly candidate Dave Luciano from the ballot in the 14th legislative district after a signature challenge Monday. 

Luciano, who was affiliated with Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop’s slate of Assembly candidates, filed to run against Assemblymembers Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) and Tennille McCoy (D-Hamilton).

Luciano filed with 278 signatures, giving him a 28-signature cushion above the required 250-signature threshold. Administrative Law Judge Deirdre Hartman-Zohlman found 33 signatures to be invalid, pushing Luciano beneath the threshold.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Julia Burzynski, Luciano’s attorney, said Luciano would not be withdrawing his candidacy, leaving it up to the judge to order his removal.

Kevin Drennan, a managing director at Mercury Public Affairs, challenged Luciano’s signatures. Drennan previously worked as executive director of the New Jersey Senate Majority Office.

Luciano’s disqualification means DeAngelo and McCoy will face no primary challenges.

Luciano, an environmental specialist at the New Jersey Department of Education, appeared to be prepared to specifically challenge DeAngelo, the last remaining pro-life Democrat in the legislature.

Fulop criticized the petition challenges in a social media post Monday.

“In case you didn’t know – the NJ Dem political machine filed paperwork over the weekend to get 6 of our assembly candidate challengers thrown off the ballot,” he wrote. “They are scared what happens when voters have choices in a primary. We are in court today fighting for the public to have options.”

Other Fulop-backed candidates facing petition challenges include Kevin Ryan and Rebecca Holloway in LD-6, Eddie Freeman III in LD-8, Loretta Rivers in LD-17, and David Tingle in LD-18.