Currie: No comment on Earp’s Jones endorsement

State Democratic Chairman John Currie declined to comment on Ocean County Democratic Chairman Wyatt Earp’s endorsement of Essex County Chairman LeRoy Jones Monday.

“I’m not speaking to you,” Currie said. “I have no comment on that right now.”

Earp’s endorsement appears to give Jones enough votes to unseat Currie, who has chaired the state democratic party since 2013.

Jones appears to lead the state chairman 53-45, though it’s possible that state committee members will vote against the endorsement issued by their county chair.

Candidates need 49 ½ votes to win control of the state party.

At stake in the race, which is expected to take place sometime in December, are the party’s five seats on the state’s legislative redistricting commission.

That body will redraw lines for New Jersey’s legislative districts following the 2020 census.

Currie has declined to rule out appointing his half of the 10-member body before his term expires at the end of the year, a move that, while not unprecedented, would likely spur an extended fight between the two camps.