Sussex County Republicans are at war again in a primary that is more about personalities than issues, with controversial clodpoll political consultant Bill Winkler again serving as the provocateur.
Five candidates are seeking two county commissioner seats, including two incumbents running separately in a county that has no organization line. Chris Carney, a county commissioner since 2021 and a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers, has allied himself with Lafayette Mayor Alan Henderson. Earl Schick, an interim incumbent, is running on his own.
Schick became a county commissioner in February after Dawn Fantasia (R-Franklin) left to become an assemblywoman. At a special election convention, he defeated Henderson by nineteen votes, 71-52.
Winkler is backing Rob Kovic, a former councilman in a South Bergen town who now lives in Sparta, and two-term Byram Councilman Harvey Roseff. Kovic made a brief run for Congress in 2022 – he dropped out before the primary but after securing the endorsement of retired General Michael Flynn – and won 5% in a GOP Assembly primary in 2023.
Looming large in the Republican primary is disgraced County Commissioner Bill Hayden, who got caught lying about serving in the military; his former wife, stepson, and other friends have validated the stolen valor allegations. Kovic is Hayden’s attorney.
Last week, Republican County Chairman Joseph LaBarbera won a default judgment on a defamation lawsuit against Kelly Ann Hart, a former Sussex GOP vice chair and Winkler ally. In March, Hayden settled a lawsuit filed by a former state trooper who wanted her $100 campaign contribution back after learning of the Stolen Valor Scandal.
LaBarbera, a former Tea Party leader and U.S. Army veteran was elected in 2023 with the backing of the Winkler, whose tactics quickly offended the new county chairman. Kovic had briefly been the party’s executive director.
State Sen. Parker Space (R-Wantage) has split his endorsement, backing Carney and Schick.
Henderson, a retired Hardyston police officer, is the father-in-law of conservative leader Josh Aikens, a school board member in Lafayette. Henderson’s candidacy has Aikens backing the entire ticket, putting him on the same side as past rivals in this year’s primary.
If Kovic and Roseff, who have made unsubstantiated claims about some Republican officials, were to win, it could put Hayden and Winkler in control of county government.
Democrats haven’t won a countywide election in Sussex since Howard Burrell narrowly ousted Republican Freeholder Richard Durina by about 500 votes in 1999. Since Sussex is a one-party county – the GOP has a 2-1 voter registration edge – elections are decided in primaries.
One year ago, 24-year-old Jack DeGroot ousted Herb Yardley, a two-term incumbent nearly three times his age, by nearly 24 percentage points in the GOP primary.