Mastrangelo undecided about seeking re-election

Morris County Commissioner Tom Mastrangelo is planning his next move after losing the Republican organization line at the party’s convention on Friday night.

Mastrangelo, a four-term incumbent, came in fourth in the race for three seats on the Board of Commissioners.  Mendham Township Committeewoman Sarah Neibart defeated him, 336 to 261.

Now Mastrangelo must decide if he will continue his re-election bid by running off the line in the June 7 Republican primary.

“I’ve made no decision,” he told the New Jersey Globe.

That could mean an alliance with congressional candidates in the 7th and 11th districts once party leaders return for a second ballot vote to award organization lines in those race.

His running mate, nine-term Commissioner Douglas Cabana, says he will run on the organization line with the other  two winners, former Freeholder Christine Myers and Neibart, a former Mendham mayor.

Cabana received 390 votes at the convention, followed by Myers (386) and Neibart.

It’s not clear whether the third member of the Cabana-Mastrangelo team, Pequannock Mayor Melissa Florance-Lynch,  will remain in the race.  She finished fifth with 233 votes.

Republicans adjourned their convention early Saturday morning after more than six hours and a delay in using new voting machines.  They will need to come back for runoffs between Tom Kean, Jr, and John Henry Isemann in the 7th, and Tayfun Selen and Larry Casha in the 11th.

Paul DeGroot, a former prosecutor who finished fourth in Friday’s 11th district vote, has already secured the organization line in Passaic County.

Myers did not seek re-election to the freeholder board in 2018 after joining President Donald Trump’s administration as a U.S. Small Business Administration official.

Morris County had an open primary for decades until 2021, when they switched to an organization line.

The filing deadline in April 4.