Hogan still mulling re-election bid in Gloucester

A legendary Gloucester County official says he will decide within the next three to four weeks if he will seek re-election to a sixth term this year.

There has been speculation that Democratic County Clerk James N. Hogan, 80, is ready to retire after a career that included two terms as sheriff and a run for the U.S. House of Representatives.

“A decision hasn’t been made,” said Hogan, who has won three countywide races as a Republican and five as a Democrat.  “I’m talking to family, seeing what the party leaders want to do.  I’ll make the assessment for there, which I do every time I run.”

Gloucester County has become increasingly competitive in recent years.  In 2021, Republicans elected their first sheriff since Hogan left the post 27 years ago and captured two seats on the Board of Commissioners.  GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli carried Gloucester by ten points and over 10,000 votes, and Republican Edward R. Durr (R-Swedesboro) ousted Steve Sweeney, a six-term incumbent and the president of the New Jersey State Senate.

Hogan was serving as the Franklin Township police chief in 1985 when Republicans recruited him to run against Democrat George Small, the popular and seemingly unbeatable Gloucester County sheriff.  Hogan came within 1,800 votes of winning.

In 1988, Small retired and Hogan defeated Democrat Edwin Erickson, the undersheriff, by about 5,000 votes, 53%-47%.  Three years later, Hogan was re-elected in a landslide 12,000-vote, 60%-40% rematch against Erickson despite being outspent by a 2-1 margin.

Hogan gave up his sheriff’s post in 1994 to run for Congress but lost to two-term Rep. Rob Andrews (D-Haddon Heights).  He received 28% of the vote despite a Republican wave in President Bill Clinton’s mid-term election.

When Republican Joseph J. Hoffman decided to retire after seven terms as county clerk in 1997, Hogan decided to run for the post.  He defeated Democrat Angelo Romero, a former freeholder, by nearly 8,000 votes, 55%-45%.  That same election saw Gloucester County voters toss two Republican freeholders and stymie the comeback of a longtime Republican surrogate, but also re-elect GOP Sheriff Chuck Gill.

In 2002, one year after Sweeney, the Gloucester County freeholder director, defeated eight-term Democrat-turned-Republican State Sen. Raymond Zane, Hogan decided to switch parties and seek re-election as a Democrat.

Hogan defeated Republican Anthony DiMasi by about 18,000 votes, winning his second term with 62% of the vote.

Since then, Hogan has had little trouble getting re-elected.  He won his fifth term in 2017 with 55% of the vote against Republican Diane King.