Burlington Democrats keep sheriff’s office, commission seats

Burlington County remains in Democratic hands, with an incumbent sheriff and two incumbent county commissioners all winning by comfortable margins.

Sheriff James Kostoplis won his second term, defeating Republican Erik Johnston, a Sheriff’s officer, 59%-41%.

County Commissioners Allison Eckel and Randy Brolo defeated their two GOP challengers, North Hanover Township Committeeman Nick Pawlyzyn and Joe Abegg, a retired Air Force pilot. Democrats won by roughly 35,000 votes to keep their 5-0 majority.

Kostopolis won on his third try in 2022; he lost races to Republican Jean Stanfield in 2013 and 2016.  He was the undersheriff for three years before succeeding Anthony Basantis, a Democrat who served one term as sheriff after Stanfield left to run for the legislature.

Eckel, a former member of the Lenape Regional High School Board of Education, ran for State Assembly in 2021 and became a county commissioner in 2022 after Linda Hynes resigned to become a Superior Court judge.  Brolo, a leader in the Laborers’ International Union of North America, became a county commissioner earlier this year as part of a game of musical chairs that began with the indictment of Bob Menendez: Andy Kim replaced Menendez in the U.S. Senate; Herb Conaway took Kim’s congressional seat; Balvir Singh succeeded Conaway in the Assembly; and Brolo was substituted in for Singh as a county commissioner.

Republicans held a 5-0 majority until losing two seats in 2017, two in 2018, and the last one in 2019.