Gloucester Dems select Gattinelli to run for Simmons’ county commissioner seat

Gloucester County Democrats filled out their ticket tonight, choosing Washington Township Mayor Joann Gattinelli to run for county commissioner.

She replaces Heather Simmons, who is eschewing her bid for a fifth term as a county commissioner to seek a State Assembly seat in the 3rd district.

Gattinelli will run with incumbent Jim Jefferson and Pitman Councilman Matthew Weng, who was picked earlier this month after incumbent Lyman Barnes announced he would not seek re-election.

Elections in Gloucester County have become increasingly competitive in recent years.  Republicans broke the 7-0 Democratic majority on the county commission in 2021 when they flipped two seats and the sheriff’s office.  But Democrats stopped a GOP bid to take control last year, re-electing two incumbents and a longtime county clerk.

The county Republican organization has tapped three candidates for their bid to wrestle control of county government from the Democrats:  Frank Fisher,  a Washington Township volunteer firefighter and nurse anesthetist who spent 32 years in the U.S. Army Reserves and Air National Guard, including combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan; parental rights advocate Brooke Rivello; and Erik Anderson, a businessman, U.S. Army veteran, and emergency room technician.

But Fisher, Rivello, and Anderson could face a primary challenge if new candidates emerge to bracket with a slate headed by Christopher DelBorrello, a former Washington Township Councilman seeking the Republican nomination for State Senate in the 4th district.

A realtor and owner of a local eatery, Gattinelli Pizza and Pasta, Gattinelli defeated incumbent Mayor Barbara Wallace in the Democratic primary by 18 percentage points in 2016.  Local Democrats had tossed Wallace, the wife of former New Jersey Supreme Court Justice John E. Wallace, Jr., from the organization line.

In the general election, Gattinelli beat Republican Joseph Micucci by a 46.7% to 41.6% margin after a former GOP councilman, Giancarlo D’Orazio, acted as a spoiler by winning 11.5% as an independent.

In 2020, Gattinelli was re-elected by a 50.8% to 42.7% margin against Republican Vincent Spinelli.  D’Orazio again ran as an independent and polled 6.4% of the vote.

If Gattinelli wins her county commissioner race, the 5-0 Republican majority on the Washington Township Council will pick one of three names submitted by the local Democratic county committee to serve the remaining year of Gattinelli’s term.    Should the council be unable to settle on one name, the matter will return to the county committee.