Paula Sollami Covello will not seek the Democratic nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s 3rd district, saying that she needs to devote 100% of her energies to her current position as Mercer County Clerk.
“The timing isn’t right for me,” Sollami Covello told the New Jersey Globe. “I have a major election to run this year, and I have to concentrate on that.”
Sollami Covello isn’t ready to take sides in what is now a three-way primary between Assembly Majority Whip Carol Murphy (D-Mount Laurel), Assemblyman Herb Conaway, Jr. (D-Delanco), and civil rights attorney Joe Cohn.
She had been exploring a congressional run since September, when three-term Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown) announced in September that he would seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Kim joined the race one day after the three-term incumbent, Bob Menendez, was charged with accepting bribes.
Senate Majority Whip Troy Singleton (D-Delran) had initially considered a race but quickly decided to remain in the Senate.
Last month, Sollami Covello had criticized Burlington County Democratic Chairman Joe Andl for not taking her call before issuing his personal endorsement of Conaway.
Five towns in Mercer County – East Windsor, Hamilton, Hightstown, Lawrence, and Robbinsville – comprised 31.5% of the Democratic primary vote two years ago. Sollami Covello’s path involves winning Mercer, while Murphy and Conaway split Burlington, where 66.1% of Democrats who voted in the last House primary live.
The remainder of the district comes from ten municipalities in western Monmouth County, making up 12.4% of the Democratic primary vote. State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Long Branch), the titular leader of the Monmouth Democrats, has endorsed Conaway.
Sollami Covello worked in Gov. Jim Florio’s office as a policy advisor and later as a legal examiner for the New Jersey Department of Education and Assistant Mercer County Counsel before she was elected county clerk in 2005. She defeated Republican incumbent Cathy DiCostanzo by 237 votes out of more than 94,000 cast, 50.1%-49.9%. Since then, Sollami Covello has been re-elected three times by landslide margins.
She is a former president of the Constitutional Officers Association of New Jersey. Her late father, Paul Sollami, served seven terms on the Mercer County Board of Freeholders.