Off-the-line GOP candidates prevail in primary for Gloucester county offices

An off-the-line slate has won a close Republican primary for Gloucester County Surrogate and three county commissioner seats, dealing a serious blow to the county Republican organization, the New Jersey Globe projects.

In the race for county commissioner, former Harrison Committeeman Adam Wingate is in first place with 18% of the vote, followed by Franklin Committeewoman Heather Flaim and East Greenwich Committeeman James Philbin, each of whom has 17%. They defeated the party-backed slate of Frank Fisher, Brooke Rivello, and Erik Anderson, all of whom have around 16% of the vote.

Off-the-line county surrogate candidate Samuel Maccarone was also successful, defeating former East Greenwich Committeeman Stephen Bottiglieri 54%-46%.

The split in the county party originated in the fight over two legislative seats. The county GOP, under the leadership of chairwoman Jacci Vigilante, backed State Sen. Ed Durr (R-Logan) and Gloucester County Commissioner Nick DeSilvio (R-Franklin) for the State Senate, slating them with the party-backed county-level ticket. 

But not everyone in the county party was happy with those choices. Thus, when Assemblywoman Beth Sawyer (R-Woolwich) and former Washington Township Councilman Chris Del Borrello joined together on a renegade slate, a number of elected officials were willing to join up with them and run for county office.

Gloucester Republicans are now presented with the difficult task of unifying ahead of a competitive general election against the South Jersey Democratic organization. While the county party has been on the upswing in recent years and scored major upsets in 2021, their bid to flip the board of county commissioners last year fell short, and this year is sure to be another dogfight.