On June 10, Cherry Hill Democratic voters delivered a decisive shock to the machine-dominated Camden County Democratic Committee (CCDC), electing a slate of South Jersey Progressive Democrats (SJPD) candidates and voting out the slate of CCDC candidates. In preliminary results, the SJPD slate defeated the CCDC slate in a landslide, 5,440 to 3,257. In the days since this Primary Election win, confidential sources have shared with reporters the troubling news that CCDC apparently intends to sue to overturn the election results and prevent the winners from filling the remaining vacancies on the municipal committee. It’s unclear what basis CCDC believes it has for any legal challenge to the election results, since both the bylaws of the county party as well as state statute make it plain that vacancies on the municipal committee are to be filled by elected municipal committee members. Those elected committee members are David Stahl, Susan Druckenbrōd, and Rena Margulis, whom Cherry Hill Democratic voters overwhelmingly entrusted with the job of appointing members to the municipal committee. The trio has already put out a public call for community engagement in filling the vacancies, which has been enthusiastically received. “Voters made a clear decision on June 10th in support of our candidates. In this particular political moment, living in the age of Trump, it is deeply concerning that Democrats would try to overturn an election. Over our many years of organizing, we (SJPD) have been bested by the Norcross machine and we have never tried to invalidate an election. When we lost, we used it as an opportunity to reflect, to learn, and to do better in the future. We (SJPD) urge the Camden County Democrats to respect election results. The voters have spoken. They have elected our candidates. We expect the Democratic Party to respect the vote in New Jersey, and not replicate the GOP’s nihilistic voter denialism,” said Kate Delany, President of SJPD.
“We ran to get a seat at the table, and the CCDC fought to have voters choose the whole table. We are now presented with the opportunity to be a real model to the state for what Dem party committee is about - building community, growing the party, and electing a government that works for the people. Our neighbors have responded extremely well to that message and they are eager to get to work with us, and we look forward to building up our party and bringing in new ideas to the Cherry Hill Democratic Committee with a diverse array of Representation from all around town,” said Dave Stahl of South Jersey Progressive Democrats and newly elected County Committee member. "Presently we are in the recruitment phase of filling 71 seats for municipal committee in town, and are reaching out to broad swaths of the Cherry Hill community. The interest level is high. We have been meeting and talking with registered Democrats in town and people are actively engaging with us. We are excited to bring awareness to this party office that for way too long has been hidden away with only a few in the know actually aware of its existence, its purpose and who the actual committee members are. Our goal is to have representation in all of the 48 voting districts in Cherry Hill, and we are on our way to reaching that goal. We are looking forward to the reorganization meeting and to swearing in the new team,” said Susan Druckenbrōd of South Jersey Progressive Democrats and newly elected County Committee member. “With a potential lawsuit, the machine will be saying to the Democratic voters of Cherry Hill: ‘Heads we win, tails we go to court, employing our considerable financial muscle to overturn your decision to throw us out.’ The South Jersey Progressive Democrats will respect the decision of the voters to end machine control of the Cherry Hill Democratic Committee. If sued, we will vigorously defend our rights to bring the change to the Cherry Hill Democratic Committee that Cherry Hill Demo…
Our press release from yesterday, and the article in the Inquirer quoting LD6 State Senator and County Party Chair James Beach confirming they will attempt to refuse us the right that voters have bestowed upon us to recruit the remaining seats in Cherry Hill.
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