The Essex County Democratic screening committee voted tonight to recommend the endorsement of Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) for governor at the county convention on March 22.
Sherrill beat out Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, 19-4, with former Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller finishing third with one vote. Former Senate President Steve Sweeney received no votes.
Two other candidates, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly), did not participate in the Essex screening process. Gottheimer had the endorsement of one Democratic municipal chair, Jan Skelton of North Caldwell.
Each municipality has one vote in the screening committee, regardless of population, with one exception: each of Newark’s five wards has a vote. Democratic County Chairman LeRoy Jones, Jr. and Vice Chair Teresa Ruiz, also have votes. The recommendation of the screening committee is non-binding.
There were two abstentions tonight; one municipality was not present and another did not vote.
The decision to award the organization slogan will be made by the full county committee at their convention.
Sherrill, Baraka and Spiller — half the Democratic field seeking to replace term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy — live in Essex County. Indeed, one-third of the field — Sherrill and Spiller — are from Montclair.
Essex Democrats have not elected a governor since 1973, when West Orange resident Brendan Byrne was elected. The third-place finisher in the Democratic primary that year was State Sen. Ralph DeRose (D-South Orange). Three of the top seven vote-getters in the 1981 Democratic primary were from Essex: Newark Mayor Kenneth Gibson, former Attorney General John Degnan, and State Sen. Frank Dodd (D-West Orange). The 1985 Democratic gubernatorial primary was won by Essex County Executive Peter Shapiro, with Gibson finishing in third.
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