With Mark Armstead’s off-the-line win in a Democratic primary last night for Linden’s 8th ward council seat, three Armstead siblings will soon simultaneously hold local office in Linden.
Most prominent, of course, is Mayor Derek Armstead, who was first elected to lead the Union County city in 2014. Prior to becoming mayor, Armstead was a councilman from the 4th ward for more than 20 years.
In 2015, the mayor was joined by his sister Lisa Ormon, who unseated incumbent Councilman Christopher Kolibas in the 1st ward. Now, with Mark’s victory, three of the five children of the late Rubin Armstead are going to hold elected office at once.
Derek’s daughter, Brianna Armstead, is also a member of the Linden Board of Education.
Interestingly, Derek – who is also the Democratic municipal chairman, and thus has control over the local party’s endorsements – didn’t give the county line to his brother’s 8th ward campaign this year. Instead, official party backing went to incumbent Councilman Garnett Blaine.
But that backing evidently didn’t mean much in terms of real votes. Mark, running in Column C all by himself, unseated Blaine by a huge 67%-33% margin, and has no Republican opponent in November.