NJ-11: Brendan Gill wins Essex Democratic endorsement after tangled virtual convention
After a turbulent virtual county convention, Essex County Democrats have voted to endorse Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill (D-Montclair), who overcame a late effort to get the county organization to abstain from endorsing anyone in the special election for New Jersey’s 11th congressional district.
In the final tally, Gill won 132 votes, while 90 committeemembers voted “abstain,” which if it had won a plurality would have meant that the county party would have stayed neutral in the race to succeed Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill. (The convention was beset with technical issues throughout and around 30 ballots were not initially counted, but these totals reflect the full 258 votes cast.)
A smattering of votes went to other candidates: 17 to former Rep. Tom Malinowski, six to Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett (D-Wayne), six to Maplewood Committeeman/former Mayor Dean Dafis, three to Bernie Sanders 2020 political director Analilia Mejia, three to Lieutenant Gov. Tahesha Way, and one to former congressional staffer Marc Chaaban. Even if every voter who opted for one of the non-Gill candidates had chosen to abstain instead, Gill still would have narrowly prevailed.
Twelve of the 13 Democrats running for the seat were on committeemembers’ ballots; the one exception was Morris Township Committeeman/former Mayor Jeff Grayzel, who boycotted a convention that he decried as “rigged” in favor of Gill.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/brendan-gill-wins-essex-democratic-endorsement-after-tangled-virtual-convention/