Burlington County Democrats will pick a short-term caretaker to fill a State Assembly vacancy that will occur on or about January 3 when Herb Conaway, Jr. (D-Delran) takes his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Daniel J. O’Connell, a former locomotive engineer and union leader retiring on January 1 after six years as a Burlington County Commissioner, has emerged as the leading candidate to serve Conaway’s unexpired term. O’Connell has committed not to run in the June 2025 Democratic primary.
The move creates an open process allowing any Democrat who wants to run in next year’s no-line, office block ballot primary to compete without party insiders putting their thumb on the scale and anointing a successor for Conaway. The 7th legislative district is safe Democratic.
“It is vital that our committee members have adequate time to evaluate the talented candidates who will seek the vacancy created by Dr. Conaway’s ascension to the U.S. Congress,” said Burlington County Democratic Chairman Matt Riggins. “Appointing Commissioner O’Connell to serve for the remainder of Dr Conaway’s term will allow the BCDC to fully vet each candidate in the Spring, culminating with a vote by our members in a free and fair county convention prior to the June primary.”
In consultation with other Democrats, Riggins determined that the short window – New Jersey law requires a new legislator to be picked within 7 to 35 days – to pick Conaway’s replacement left county committee members and voters without enough time to assess the field of potential candidates.
Instead of giving one candidate the advantage of incumbency, Riggins instead is supporting.
So far, three-term Burlington County Commissioner Balvir Singh and Moorestown Mayor Nicole Gillespie, an Annapolis graduate and U.S. Navy veteran, are already in the race. Assembly Majority Whip Carol Murphy (D-Mount Laurel) is expected to seek re-election to a fifth term in the legislature.
The plan is supported by State Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Delran) and Murphy.
“It is vital that our next Assembly representative has the requisite experience and character to lead in our state government. Our party must have ample time and space to fully evaluate the candidates before making their decision in an open county convention this Spring,” Singleton said. “I believe appointing Commissioner O’Connell to the expiring term will do just that, while also bringing a leader of high integrity and intellect to the State Assembly for the next year.”
Murphy praised O’Connell’s service in county government and said he’d “make an excellent partner with me in the Assembly for the remainder of Dr. Conaway’s term.”
“I fully support the process laid out by Chairman Riggins, and hope that all BCDC members will take the time to assess all the candidates for this seat.”
Riggins promised a free and fair primary convention this spring—Burlington has already committed to a lineless primary—and asked all candidates to respect the placeholder process when the party meets in January to replace Conaway. Candidates are not bound by that and can present themselves to county committee members if they want.
With preferential ballot positions gone, the convention may only be about the slogan. Candidates with a political base, grassroots support, or money are free to run for one of the two Assembly seats in the 7th legislative district.
Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University, said this was a “big chance from the old way of doing business.”
“County part organizations would rarely have missed an opportunity to anoint a new official under the old system,” he said. “(It) allows an official to ‘owe’ the constituents who put him or her in office, rather than the party, Bravo to Matt Riggins.”
Riggins’ plan also won the backing of Erik Heyman-Meltzer, the Democratic municipal chairman of Cinnaminson.
“In a post-line world, there should be no barriers to run for office: neither preferential ballot placement, nor incumbency,” Heyman-Meltzer said. “The deck should never be stacked against any candidate.”
The seat doesn’t open up often: Conaway and Jack Conners (D-Pennsauken) won it in 1997; Singleton won a seat following Conners’ retirement in 2009, and Murphy was elected in 2017 after Singleton moved up to the Senate.
O’Connell was elected to the Delran Township Council in 2014 and re-elected in 2018. After Freeholder George Youngkin resigned minutes after being sworn in on January 1, 2019, O’Connell won a special election convention to replace him; he was elected in a November 2019 special election and again in 2021. He had announced earlier this year that he would not be a candidate for re-election.
Before his retirement, O’Connell worked on the railroad for Penn Central, CONRAIL, and New Jersey Transit. He served as a union representative for the United Transportation Union (UTU) and became the union’s state legislative director.
“I thank Commissioner O’Connell for his willingness to serve and know that he will be a strong and effective leader in Trenton on behalf of his constituents,” said Riggins.