Millburn mayor drops re-election bid

Millburn Mayor Maggee Miggins, who has been in the mix for a State Assembly seat in the 27th district this week, unexpectedly ended her campaign for re-election to a township committee seat today.

“While this was not an easy decision, it was made in consultation with all my family members,” Miggins said in a letter to Democratic Municipal Chair Annette Romano.  “It was decided that in the interests of all concerned, it is time the opportunity to serve the public interest be made available to another.”

Democrats have until August 31 to fill her spot on the November ballot and run with Bruce Kramer.  Another incumbent, Sanjeev Vinayak, is not seeking re-election.

While Millburn has become a Democratic stronghold in federal and state elections, Republicans remain competitive at the municipal level.  The GOP candidates are Frank Saccomandi IV and Ben Stoller.

Miggins was elected in 2020, winning by more than 2,300 votes in a huge presidential year turnout.

After State Sen. Richard Codey (D-Roseland) announced on Monday that he would drop his bid for re-election, Miggins’s name was included on an early short list of Assembly candidates after it became clear that eleven-term Assemblyman John McKeon (D-West Orange) would run for the Senate.

McKeon’s running mate, Alixon Collazos-Gill, is also dropping out of the race; she’ll be replaced on the ballot with her husband, Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill.

Two other Millburn candidates, Romano, a township committeewoman, and former Township Committeewoman Jackie Benjamin Lieberberg, are also on the list of possible Assembly candidates.

InsiderNJ had incorrectly announced that Miggins was picked for the Assembly on Wednesday evening but later pulled their story without explanation.

Miggins had faced an unsuccessful effort to force a recall in 2022.