Now, only two thirds of the Democratic candidates up for election in New Jersey’s 27th Legislative District will be hand-picked by party leaders — rather than all three.
Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, a political consultant and ally of Gov. Phil Murphy, won’t seek the Assembly seat he had recently put his name up for, NJ.com reports. He and other party figures had previously negotiated an agreement that would have seen him join the ticket and his wife drop out of the race, amid a complicated re-shuffling, prompted by Sen. Richard Codey’s announcement he’d retire after this term.
Instead, his wife, Alixon Collazos-Gill, who was elected by primary voters, will remain on the ticket — despite previously saying she’d withdraw.
Codey, a former state Senate president and governor with a half-century in the legislature, had just defeated fellow longtime incumbent state Sen. Nia Gill (who has no relationship to Brendan Gill or Alixon Collazos-Gill) in the primary race, after redistricting set up a rare incumbent-vs.-incumbent contest. Codey, from West Orange, ran with the party’s backing, which confers preferential treatment on the primary ballot in what’s known as the “county line.”
Following their primary victories, Codey had been slated to run on a ticket with Collazos-Gill and longtime running mate John McKeon (D-West Orange). But amid the political maneuvering following Codey’s retirement announcement, party leadership worked out a new plan: McKeon would run for Codey’s state Senate seat, instead of the Assembly. Brendan Gill would run for what party leaders described as the Assembly seat that McKeon currently holds and for which he was previously seeking re-election. Collazos-Gill would drop out, and Livingston Township Councilwoman Rosaura Bagolie would join the ticket seeking the other Assembly seat in the district.
But that arrangement still remained contingent on the votes of more than 200 Democratic committee members at a special…
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