Gov. Phil Murphy has nominated Michael S. Mikulski III, the Republican mayor of Southampton, to serve as a Superior Court Judge, a move that is slightly connected to his bid to win Senate confirmation of John Jay Hoffman as an associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court.
The path to Mikulski’s nomination began more than six months ago but was recently expedited as the governor’s office works to get State Sen. Latham Tiver (R-Southampton) to sign off on Hoffman. Under the unwritten rules of senatorial courtesy, Hoffman must get the backing of his two home county senators, Troy Singleton (D-Delran) and Tiver, before advancing to the Judiciary Committee.
The New Jersey Globe has learned that Tiver was not ready to have a serious conversation about Hoffman until Murphy had moved on Mikulski. That happened rather quickly.
Murphy’s nomination last year of former state Division of Criminal Justice Director Pearl Minato to a Superior Court judgeship has received signoff from Tiver but still faces delays. Minato was supposed to sit in Burlington.
Because there are no open seats in Burlington, Mikulski would start in the Camden vicinage.
The 55-year-old Mikulski recently retired as a decorated U.S. Army Reserve Colonel. During his thirty years there, he completed combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mikulski was elected to the township committee in 2014 after serving on the school board. He’s practiced law for 31 years.
Mikulski isn’t up for re-election until next year, and if the Senate confirms him before August 27, there will be a special election for his Southampton township committee seat.
Murphy also nominated Advia Knight Foster, a staff attorney at New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance, to serve as an administrative law judge. She is an officer of the Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey.