This week saw the official announcements of retirements that had long been an open secret: that of State Represenative J.J. Johnson (D-16th) and Joe Miro (R-22nd). They bring to a total of eight the number of lawmakers that are retiring: Miro, Johnson, Reps. Melanie George Smith, D-5th; Harvey Kenton, R-36th; Bryon Short, D-7th; Senate Majority Leader Margaret Rose Henry, D-2nd; Senate Minority Leader Gary Simpson, R-18th; and Sen. Brian Bushweller, D-17th. I do not necessarily get a sense that there is any one thing that is motivating all these lawmakers to retire at once. For Miro, Johnson, Kenton, Simpson, Bushweller and Henry, I think it is just their time to go. They are all of an age and a length of service where retirement is logical. For Short, I think he just is tired of politics, and his disenchantment began after his short lived congressional campaign. For Smith, she moved out of the district and got caught doing it. I think Smith would be running for reelection if there were no residency issue.
In the 16th, we have Jakim Mohammed running to succeed Johnson. In the 22nd, we have two Democratic women, Renee Taschner and Guillermina Gonzalez running, while Republicans Fred Cullis and Michael Smith are considering bids of their own.
Downstate, in the 6th Senate District currently occupied by Senator Ernie Lopez, a Democratic opponent, Dave Baker, filed to run this week. He is pictured above at left with his family earlier this week while filing the papers to run. Mr. Baker is a longtime public servant and former Sussex County Administrator. He served in the Sussex County Government from 1978 to 2012, moving from the Director of Accounting to County Finance Director and finally County Administrator. Baker sounds like a very good candidate to face Ernie Lopez.
We still do not have a candidate in the 7th RD beyond the two candidates that ran in a primary in 2016 when Bryon Short ran for Congress: Joseph Daigle and Dave Brady. But no official word from either.
Here is our list:
There are a handful of “no excuse” districts here. As in, there is NO EXCUSE for D’s to not run someone in 2018.
#1 where is our Treasurer candidate. At the very least, give someone the opportunity to get statewide name recognition.
Or RD21, for example, where D’s outnumber R’s by almost 2500. You read that right.
Same as SD16, there is NO EXCUSE to let failed gubernatorial candidate Bonini waltz back into the senate with the comfortable registration advantage D’s have here.
Other No Excuse Districts:
RD33 and RD34 have the advantage; RD 30, RD 35, RD 37, RD39, RD41 are all a stone’s throw from it.
These are 10 inexcusable vacancies in the year of the blue tsunami.
I agree with wholeheartedly. Attention would be candidates: Look at Don Allan, Jr. in the 36th. A downstate generally Republican district, but he decided to run before the incumbent decided to retire and now the seat is open and competitive. We must run everywhere and not be afraid of losing. If we lose, we lose, but at least voters will get a choice, and when they have a choice we Democrats have a chance.
I agree that Dems need to contest every seat. However, it is difficult to recruit sane and qualified candidates where the odds are long. I western Sussex, you cannot rely on Party registration to determine whether or not a race is winnable. There are still vestiges of the conservative, “Dixiecrat”, Democrat of old. They are conservative on most social issues- race, sexual orientation, guns, and have tended to vote Republican since 2004. As a result, the Democratic Party organization is very weak outside of the eastern Sussex RD committees. This makes the numbers in RDs 35, 39, 40, and even 41 unreliable. This is also the case, to a lesser degree, in 36 and 37.
The Party down here needs to recruit qualified candidates, and Don Allan is a perfect example, who will run on their issues, run hard, and be prepared to lose…this time. Having been there, it a a blow to your ego to run hard and lose. Some pick up and try again, but most never do so.
Jim Ryan has a committee open for RD9 as well
David Anderson is running in the 31st RD as well
Add Linwood Jackson to the 16th RD as a D. He announced on FB yesterday, I think.
Sure did: https://www.facebook.com/CLinwoodJ/posts/1895409067160076?pnref=story
Will add him.
Don’t forget Dee Durham – she opened a committee to run for County Council against Bob Weiner
Thanks, I will add her.
As former Dem State Chair John Daniello used to say: “You’re not a candidate until you file”.
I like to list candidates who have every intention to run but haven’t filed yet, to give them some publicity and to get some discussion going about them.