Hector Tavarez, a former Egg Harbor Township police captain who ran for the 2nd congressional district last year but dropped out before the Democratic primary, announced today that he will run for Atlantic County Commissioner in the 3rd district.
“While much has changed in the last 33 years, the one thing that hasn’t is politicians on both sides giving lip service to the public’s needs and problems instead of addressing and fixing them,” Tavarez said, referring to the local Police Athletic League chapter he co-founded in 1989. “That’s why I’ve decided to run for county commissioner.”
In 2022, Tavarez was among the more prominent Democratic candidates for Congress against Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis), garnering the endorsement of Atlantic County Sheriff Eric Scheffler. But after he failed to win the Atlantic County Democratic line, he ended his campaign and endorsed Tim Alexander, the eventual Democratic nominee.
This year, he has the endorsement of Scheffler once again, and is unlikely to face any major primary opposition for the county commissioner seat.
The 3rd commissioner district, which includes parts of Egg Harbor and Hamilton Townships, was home to one of the most chaotic races in the state in 2020. Democrat Thelma Witherspoon appeared to have narrowly beaten Republican Andrew Parker, but the results were thrown out after it was revealed that County Clerk Ed McGettigan had mailed the wrong ballots to more than 500 voters; Parker went on to win a November 2021 do-over election.
Since then, the 3rd district has been redrawn to be more Republican, ironically due to a Democratic redistricting proposal. The old district was carried by Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli 54%-45%, while he won the new district 56%-43%, so Tavarez has a tough campaign ahead of him.
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March 1, 2021