Camden County Clerk Joseph Ripa is retiring, and Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt (D-Cherry Hill) has received party support to replace him.
The announcement was made today at a meeting of the Camden County Democratic organization.
Lampitt is serving her ninth term in the State Assembly. If she wins, the Democratic county committee in the 6th legislative district will meet in January to select her replacement.
It’s not immediately clear who will succeed Lampitt in the Assembly. Since State Sen. James Beach and Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald are from Voorhees, it’s likely that Lampitt’s replacement will be a woman from Cherry Hill. Camden County Commissioner Melinda Kane, a Gold Star mother, is a possible candidate.
Her likely election as county clerk will also open the door for a new Assembly Education Committee chair.
Democrats also picked former Sheriff Chuck Billingham to run in the primary for his old job. He’ll replace Gilbert “Whip” Wilson, who announced his retirement last night after three terms. Billingham served three terms as sheriff before retiring in 2015.
The 63-year-old Lampitt was serving her second term as a Cherry Hill councilwoman before Democratic leaders selected her to replace Mary Previte (D-Cherry Hill) in the Assembly.
Ripa, 84, was elected Camden County freeholder in 2005 and became county clerk in 2009 when James Beach was elected to the State Senate after John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) won a congressional seat. A U.S. Army veteran, Ripa had been president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 880, vice president of the Central Labor Council of Camden and Gloucester, and South Jersey Labor Council chairman. His daughter is television personality Kelly Ripa.