Gloucester County Democrats will seek to clawback three posts they lost in 2021, with Democrat Carmel Morina getting party support for a rematch with Republican Jonathan Sammons in the race for Gloucester County Sheriff, and two local officials set to challenge the two Republican county commissioners.
Democrats will run Clayton Mayor Thomas Bianco and Monroe Councilman Don Heverly for county commissioner against Republican incumbents Nick DeSilvio and Chris Konawel.
Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden) won party support for re-election. In the 2nd district, where Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) is seeking a fourth term, Democrats voted to put all three candidates – Joe Salerno, Tim Alexander, and Carolyn Rush – in the organization column.
A random draw conducted at tonight’s county committee meeting put the three in the following order: Salerno, Rush, and Alexander.
This will be the third time Morina and Sammons face off. Morina won his fifth term in 2018 by 17,777 votes against Sammons, 58%-42%. But three years later, with Republican Jack Ciattarelli carrying Gloucester against Gov. Phil Murphy, Sammons edged out Morina by 1,565 votes, 51%-49%.
DeSilvio and Konawel, who ran in 2020 and lost by roughly 6,000 votes, ousted incumbents Robert Damminger and Denice DiCarlo in 2021.
Democrats held the 5-2 majority in 2022 and won again in 2023. They are looking to return to an all-Democratic Board of County Commissioners.