Former East Orange Councilwoman Brittany Claybrooks is expected to remain on the ballot in the July 16 special Democratic congressional primary in New Jersey’s 10th district after an administrative law judge ruled to dismiss a challenge to her nominating petition.
Claybrooks had filed with 352 signatures, which meant 153 of them needed to be disqualified for her to be tossed. Judge Susana Espasa Guerrero had rejected 65 as ineligible to sign.
Guerrero ruled that challengers had “not presented sufficient evidence that would demonstrate a high likelihood of forgery, or that the circulator’s actions were taken in bad faith and that the nominating petition was fraudulently filed.”
“Particularly given the less restrictive standard of primary elections, I am not persuaded that the burden to demonstrate fraud is sufficient to invalidate the Petition, or even just booklet 7.”
The New Jersey Democratic State Committee sought to remove Claybrooks from the ballot, alleging that a series of forged and improper signatures ought to invalidate the entire section of petitions with the same circulator.”
“The petitioners failed to meet their burden of proof to demonstrate the presence of any fraud that would warrant the disqualification of the signatures contained in the petition,” Guerrero said.
The counsel to the state party, Raj Parikh, pointed out one family where every signature was in the same handwriting, suggesting that one individual signed for her entire household.
“The evidence before the court demonstrates that the affirmations of multiple of these circulators are false,” Parikh said.
Parikh also asked Guerrero to take into consideration that none of the circulators obeyed subpoenas he issued to testify.
“People involved with the campaign expressly ignored a lawful order from an officer of the court to appear to testify to defend their own actions and process that they voluntarily chose to be part of the fact that they ignored the subpoena that they have not communicated,” said Parikh. “The Claybrooks campaign has made a choice not to encourage those individuals, to our knowledge, to show up here and testify as they were required to do should be something that is ruled against the campaign.”
Matt Moench, Claybrooks attorney, said that even if the balance of a portion of the signatures Parikh was referring to was invalidated, the candidate would still have the 200 signatures needed to qualify.
“No evidence submitted here suggested fraud,” Moench said.
Claybrooks was serving as North Jersey political director for Andy Kim’s U.S. Senate campaign before leaving earlier this month to seek the late Rep. Donald Payne’s seat in Congress.
Another judge, Kim Belin, rejected Claybrooks’ attempt to push Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver, off the ballot. A challenge to the petitions of law professor Eugene Mazo, who is also seeking Payne’s seat, was unsuccessful.
The final decision on accepting or rejecting petitions rests with Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, the Secretary of State.
Linden Mayor Derek Armstead, Hudson County Commissioner Jerry Walker, former Payne staffer Shana Melius, and Darryl Godfrey, the COO of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, are also in the race, along with John Flora, Debra Salters, Alberta Gordon, and Sheila Montague.