Judge tells Salem County to certify Penns Grove election

Salem County election officials are now cleared to certify the election results in Penns Grove, where incumbent LaDaena Thomas mounted a successful write-in campaign in last month’s general election.

Superior Court Judge Benjamin Morgan lifted his own order preventing the Salem County Board of Elections from finalizing the election after an attorney representing the Republican candidate, Louis Pasquale, suggested that Thomas was ineligible to serve.

Pasquale’s attorney, Samuel D. Jackson, argued that Thomas was ineligible to serve as mayor because she pleaded guilty to third-degree theft of service charge 23 years ago and was still on probation at the time she registered to vote.  Her attorneys, Scott Salmon and Timothy Downs, had presented evidence that her probation had ended.

Morgan instructed the Board of Elections and county clerk to declare Thomas the winner, saying a delay “could create a scenario where the citizens of Penns Grove do not have a mayor come January 1, 2024..”

“The delay would not only harm the public, but also Mayor Thomas, who has allegedly won the election and was selected by the people of Penns Grove,” Morgan said.

Still unclear is why Morgan restrained election officials from certifying the election for three weeks.

“There’s nothing in the record showing that Miss Thomas’s probation was extended beyond the ordered four years, or the five year maximum permitted by the statute,” Morgan said today.  “Moreover, restitution and probation are separate concepts.”

Morgan also disqualified Jackson and his law firm, the Lento Law Group, from representing Pasquale after Salmon argued that the firm had previously represented Thomas in a big to expunge her prior conviction.

“The court finds there’s more than enough information provided in the affidavits and evidence submitted to require (the Lento Group) to be disqualified in this matter,” Morgan said.  “Miss Thomas has satisfied her initial burden for disqualification.”

Morgan set a new hearing date of January 2, 2024, for Pasquale to get a new lawyer or appear himself.  If he doesn’t, Morgan said he’d dismiss the complaint with prejudice.

The attorney general’s office advised local officials on Saturday that they would investigate a racist, terroristic voicemail left by an employee of the Lento Law Group, John Groff.    Groff had referred to Thomas as a “black fucking nigger bitch” and threatened to “fucking destroy her.”

Morgan said the “recording or the details surrounding it does not significantly alter this court’s analysis of the case.”

In September, Morgan threw Thomas off the general election ballot after finding that she had sought write-in votes in the Democratic primary and that her independent candidacy violated the state’s Sore Loser Law.

Thomas appeared to receive roughly 200 write-in votes – maybe more – with Pasquale getting 191 votes and 153 going to Democrat John Washington, a former mayor unseated by Thomas four years ago.