Camden Democrats back Sweeney, shuffle county commissioner slate

Camden County Democrats endorsed Steve Sweeney for governor and their convention this evening, and selected two new candidates to run for county commissioner.

Edward McDonnell won party support in his bid for an eleventh term.  Elected in 1995, McDonnell is the fourth-longest county commissioner in the state.

His running mate, Virginia Ruiz Betteridge, decided against seeking re-election to a second full term in order to devote more time as a family caregiver.  Betteridge, a former Runnemede mayor, took office in 2002 following the secret resignation of Carmen Rodriguez.

She will be replaced by Haddonfield Mayor Colleen Bianco Bezich.

Former Cherry Hill school board member Jennifer Cooley Fleisher will seek the unexpired term of Melinda Kane (D-Cherry Hill), who resigned in January to take her seat in the New Jersey State Assembly.  She is the wife of Cherry Hill Mayor David Fleisher.

Rhonda Wardlow-Hurley, the Lawnside Democratic municipal chair and a former councilwoman who was elected to replace Kane on an interim basis, will serve until the winner of the November special election is certified.

Republicans haven’t won a countywide election in Camden since 1990.

As expected, Sweeney won Camden by acclamation.

“Having been born and raised in Pennsauken, I’m grateful for the Camden County Democrats’ support,” Sweeney said.  “Camden is where I started out as a union Ironworker, and throughout my career, I’ve worked with the county to deliver big wins: securing South Jersey’s fair share of state business incentives leading to Camden Waterfront redevelopment with companies like Holtec and American Water, supporting the Camden Housing Initiative to help the chronically homeless, keeping Subaru and Campbell’s in Camden, and pushing for the Route 295/42/I-76 Direct Connect to reduce traffic.

This is his sixth county organization endorsement after winning votes in Atlantic, Burlington, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem counties.   That means he nearly ran the table in South Jersey; Cape May opted not to take sides in the Democratic primary.