The race for Morris County Freeholder next month is now wide open following the announcement that one of the leading candidates, John Cesaro, has been charged with accepting bribes by Attorney General Gurbir Grewal.
Cesaro had been seeking support for a return to the freeholder board next month, when Republicans hold a special election convention to replace Heather Darling. Darling is resigning to become the new Morris County Surrogate.
It is not immediately clear whether Cesaro will remain in the race, although some Republicans said today that he would have had a tough time winning a majority of the county committee votes anyway.
Chatham Township Mayor Tayfun Selen, former Pompton Lakes Councilman Christian Barranco and outgoing Morristown Councilwoman Alison Deeb are already seeking support for the seat.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story mistakenly characterized Christian Barranco as a councilman from Pequannock. New Jersey Globe regrets the error.
Christian Barranco backed Obama for President and his special-interest IBEW 102 PAC gives huge contributions to Democrats to defeat Republicans, including these contributions to Democrats in just recent months:
Democrats Herbig, Kaminski, Hernandez $8,200, trying to defeat Parsippany Republican Council candidates
Democratic State Committee $20,000
NJ Senate Democratic Majority $25,000
Democratic Assembly Campaign $15,000
EFO Craig Coughlin $8,200, Democrat Speaker of the Assembly
Passaic County Democratic Committee $2,300
Fortgang for Assembly $8,200, to defeat Republicans DeCroce and Webber
Barranco’s IBEW 102 funded Democrats to defeat Morris County Republicans.
Barranco served on the council in Pompton Lakes, not Pequannock. Please correct.