Judge okays livestreaming of Gloucester GOP lawsuit

The public may watch a court hearing to determine if Gloucester County Republicans must hold an election for county chair this year after Superior Court Judge Benjamin Telsey authorized it to be livestreamed.

The hearing is set for Friday, July 14 at 10:30 AM and can be viewed at https://www.njcourts.gov/public/channels. Or click HERE.

Stephen Pakradooni wants to challenge incumbent Jacci Vigilante, but she says her term isn’t up until next year.   That led to Pakradooni and GOP candidates for county commissioner and surrogate who won off-the-line primary bids going to court to schedule an election.

Pakradooni claims that by refusing to hold a reorganization meeting this year, Vigilante is violating the party bylaws, which state that county committee members must elect a chair “to hold office for two years or until his or her successor is elected.”

But Vigilante believes her term isn’t up until next year because the bylaws also state that the election of the chair “shall take place in the year following the election of County Committee;” since county committee members were just elected last month, that would give Vigilante an extra year as chair.

Telsey had ordered an expedited hearing last week.

Vigilante and the official county organization backed one slate of candidates for legislative and county office, but they were challenged by an off-the-line slate largely consisting of more moderate candidates. The ultimate result was split: party-endorsed State Sen. Ed Durr (R-Logan) won his primary in the 3rd legislative district, but the off-the-line slate won primaries in the 4th district and for four county offices.

The winners of those four county-level primaries are making it clear which side they’re on in the upcoming chair fight. County surrogate candidate Sam Maccarone and county commissioner candidates Heather Flaim, Jim Philbin (a former county chair himself), and Adam Wingate – who now comprise the official Gloucester GOP county slate this November – are all listed as co-plaintiffs alongside Pakradooni.

The New Jersey Globe had asked Telsey to livestream the hearing.