County Dems back freeholder for 15th seat
TRENTON » If intraparty support among Democratic bigwigs is any indication, Mercer County Freeholder Anthony Verrelli is well on his way to winning political appointment and becoming the newest lawmaker in the New Jersey General Assembly.
Verrelli is lobbying for the vacant Assembly seat formerly held by Reed Gusciora, who resigned from the Legislature on June 30 to take office as the newly elected mayor of Trenton.
Kicking off his Assembly campaign across from the New Jersey Statehouse Wednesday afternoon, Verrelli was joined by Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, Democratic State Sen. Troy Singleton of Burlington County, Ewing Mayor Bert Steinmann and fellow colleagues on the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders as he talked about his desire to serve the constituents of Mercer and Hunterdon counties.
If Verrelli wins the highly coveted Assembly appointment, “My focus will be on mental health issues, opioid addiction, substance abuse and then the working people with fair wages, a $15 minimum wage, worker protections,” he told The Trentonian in an interview. “Opioid abuse is a family disease. That has to be recognized. I believe in a stigma-free Mercer County all around.”
Verrelli, 54, of Hopewell Township, won election to the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders in November 2016 to a three-year term. He is a longtime career carpenter who served as union leader of Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters Local 254, which is now affiliated with the Keystone Council due to the Northeast Council’s recent dissolution.
Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson did not attend Verrelli’s campaign kickoff on Wednesday — she was said to be away on vacation — but her chief of staff said Verrelli “will be a strong advocate for the 10 municipalities” that make up the 15th Legislative District.
Verrelli is considered the frontrunner as Democratic committeemembers and leaders prepare to host a July 26 contested convention at the Cobblestone Creek Country Club in Lawrence, where the party will formally appoint someone to serve in Gusciora’s vacant Assembly seat. state office construction project in Trenton’s outer reaches outside the transit and economic development hubs.
Because Gusciora is a Democrat, his recent departure from the New Jersey General Assembly means Democratic committee people of Mercer and Hunterdon counties must appoint another Democrat to fill the vacancy. Whoever wins the appointment will serve alongside Reynolds-Jackson in the Statehouse’s lower chamber pending a special election this fall.
On Nov. 6, the voters of the 15th Legislative District will rightfully elect two candidates to serve for the remainder of Gusciora’s and Muoio’s twoyear terms that expire Jan. 14, 2020. ReynoldsJackson has the advantage of incumbency, but Republican candidate Tracy R. Sinatra of West Windsor is seeking to pull off an upset victory in the Democratic-friendly district.
Another Republican candidate, Trenton Ethics Board member Justin Tibbetts, also hopes to get elected this fall to a 15th District Assembly seat. Outside the two-party system, Trenton businessman Tracey Syphax said he may run as an independent candidate for a 15th District Assembly seat this November.
The 15th Legislative District comprises the Mercer County municipalities of Ewing, Hopewell Borough, Hopewell Township, Lawrence Township, Pennington, Trenton, West Windsor and the Hunterdon County municipalities of East Amwell, West Amwell and Lambertville.