Salem commissioner announces Assembly run in LD-3

Salem County Commissioner Ed Ramsay announced Tuesday he will run for state Assembly in the 3rd legislative district.

Ramsay is joining what could be a crowded GOP primary to take on Assemblymembers Dave Bailey (D-Woodstown) and Heather Simmons (D-Glassboro). Ramsay is serving his second term as commissioner.

The Republican said state legislators and officials have placed too many mandates on the state’s municipalities and counties. Ramsay said the state too often tells local governments that they must implement reforms without any financial support.

“I am a strong believer in Home Rule and will take that fight to Trenton,” he wrote in his announcement. “Trenton, for [too] long, has been mandating this and that upon our Counties and Municipalities without funding or forethought, only dictations.”

Gloucester County residents account for most of the district’s voters. The entirety of Salem County and parts of Cumberland County are included in the district.

Bailey and Simmons are atop the target list for Assembly Republicans after their narrow 2023 victories.

Right now, three Republican county organizations are looking at how they can claim one of two seats in the primary. But in a likely lineless primary, there’s no guarantee that voters will necessarily ratify the two candidates backed in an agreement between county chairmen. In other words, it’s possible that one county could wind up with both seats—if that’s the way the voters go.

Other GOP candidates could include former Assemblywoman Beth Sawyer and Harrison Deputy Mayor Lawrence Moore.  Cumberland County Commissioner Arthur Marchand appears to have dropped out.

No other Republicans have filed or announced their candidacies.

Ramsay also said the current iteration of the Open Public Records Act creates a process that is too complicated and expensive to release public information, and that he wants to improve that process.