Rep. Pamela Lampitt (D-Cherry Hill) is the front-runner in the November election, as Democrats have not lost a Camden County clerk race since 1935 or a countywide office race since 1990. ing.
In order to become county clerk, Lampitt must resign in January from his position in the state Legislature, which he has held since 2006. This means the Assembly Education Committee will have a new chair for the first time in seven years. This leaves House Speaker Craig Coughlin in a position to succeed him in the medium term.
There is no best candidate.
Three freshman councilors are on the school board: Rosie Baggoley (D-Livingston), Carmen Morales (D-Belleville) and Avi Schnall (D-Lakewood), but Coughlin He opposed giving the gavel to first-term lawmakers earlier this year. Schnall is a strong supporter of tuition assistance and state funding for private schools, and his relationship with teachers' unions could pose a political headache for the speaker in an election year.
Lampitt became chair in 2018 after Rep. Marlene Calido (D-Ridgefield) resigned to become commissioner of banking and insurance. At the time, South Jersey Democrats supported Mr. Coughlin in his bid to oust House Speaker Vincent Prieto. Mr. Lampitt received the gavel even though he has never previously served on a school board.
In the past, when a committee chair position became vacant during the Legislature, Mr. Coughlin promoted the vice chair position. In this case, the most recent vice chair is Starry Stanley (D-Eastern Brunswick), who took over as chair of the influential Regulatory Professions Committee in January, although he may not want to teach. There is.
If Stanley moves to the education department, Shanique Speight (D-Newark) could be promoted from vice chair to chair of the regulatory professions department. That could open the way for Vice Chairwoman Cleopatra Tucker (D-Newark), 81, to trade the gavel for the Department of Services and Veterans Affairs in the Aging and Human Services department.
Eventually, the music committee chair's game ends. Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) has no intention of relinquishing his position as chairman of the more influential Telecommunications and Utilities Division.
For convenience, Mr. Coughlin went to another Group C chair, such as Shaima Haider (D-Tenafly) or Ellen Park (D-Inglewood Cliffs), and transferred them to the education department, then the children, They may be replaced by the family, food security and justice sectors. , Each.
Alternatively, the speaker can appoint a member of the leadership team to serve as education chair for a year. This leaves Majority Whip Carol Murphy (D-Mount Laurel), if she is not in the chamber, House Speaker Benji Wimberly (D-Patterson), or Majority Conference Leader Annette Quijano. (D-Elizabeth) may be promoted.
Other candidates may require reassignment. Teacher Linda Carter (D-Plainfield) may trade her higher education chair for Lampitt's job.
If Herb Conaway Jr. (D-Delran) wins the congressional race in New Jersey's 3rd Congressional District, Coughlin will also need to find a new chair for the influential Assembly Health Committee. The vice chair of that panel is Lampit.
The other four Democrats on the health committee chair other committees. Coughlin may choose to fill the post with freshman Margie Donlon (D-Ocean Township). She and Conaway are the only doctors in Congress.
In case people don't know this, the last Republican to serve as Camden County Clerk was Dr. Leslie Ewing. When Franklin Roosevelt won Camden by a nearly 2-1 margin over Wendell Willkie in 1940, Democrat Frank Suthill ousted him.