Off-the-line Camden County challengers fall well short, again

Camden County Democrats have retained control of two county commissioner seats after beating an off-the-line slate of challengers, the New Jersey Globe projects.

As of 11:28 p.m., incumbent Commissioners Louis Cappelli and Jonathan Young have a combined 72% of the vote, well ahead of challengers Kate Delany and Sam Sweet, who have 28%.

Nearly every cycle since 2016, the Camden Democratic organization – one of the most powerful county parties in the state – has faced a challenge from anti-organization county commissioner candidates; every year, the challengers have been easily dispatched. This year, clearly, was no exception.

But Delany was a more notable challenger than usual. She served a short stint as Collingswood municipal chair after winning an upset county committee victory in 2019, and while she lost that post two years later, she remains among the most prominent anti-organization Democrats in the region.

Delany made an attempt to claw back her own county committee post this year, an effort which also appears to have fallen short. Collingswood’s South Jersey Progressive Democrats county committee slate currently has 38% of the vote, to the Democratic organization slate’s 62%.