It looks like Clinton Mayor Janice Kovach and Democratic State Committeewoman Karen Becker may face off in a race for Hunterdon County Democratic chair, where incumbent Arlene Quinonez Perez has decided not to seek re-election this year.
Becker, a former political committee chair for the Sierra Club’s New Jersey chapter. She is expected to announce her candidacy soon.
Kovach has consistently won lopsided victories for mayor in a Republican-leaning town; she is a former secretary of the Democratic State Committee and ran for Congress in 2014 against Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton Township).
The field could still expand before the election. There had been speculation that Assemblywoman Mitchelle Drulis (D-Raritan) or her husband, Michael, the New Brunswick city administrator, might run, but neither appears ready to seek the post.
The election will be held after the certification of the primary election results, either in late June or early July.
Perez has been the county chair since 2013.