Dan Benson will resign his seat in the New Jersey State Assembly on December 31, and Democrats will hold a special election convention to fill his seat in time for the final voting session of the New Jersey Legislature.
Benson’s decision to resign five days before he takes office as the new Mercer County Executive will allow Assemblywoman-elect Tennille McCoy (D-Hamilton) to take office early as she completes the final day of Benson’s unexpired term. It also gives Democrats an extra vote during the lame-duck session. That gives them a cushion of five votes, not four.
The special election convention is set for January 6 at 11 AM. That will allow McCoy to be sworn in on January 8 and again on January 9 for the two-year term she won last month.
Initially, Benson was not expected to give up his Assembly seat until January 4, that day he takes the oath of office for his new county post. But Democratic legislative leaders appear to have wanted the extra vote for the last session.
The December 31 departure complies with a New Jersey law requiring a seven-day waiting period before a political party organization may hold a special election to fill a vacancy.
McCoy is expected to run unopposed in a joint meeting of county committee members from the Mercer and Middlesex portions of the 14th legislative district.