The Mercer County Democratic Party
On July 28th incumbent Mercer County Democratic Chair and longtime East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov withstood a challenge from Ewing Councilman David Schroth to retain her leadership of the party for another two years. In a pre-convention call, her prediction regarding the convention outcome was very accurate – being a good vote counter is an important requisite for a successful political party leader.
The final vote at the Zoom convention was 261 to 115. While Mironov won by a very wide (69%-31%) margin, the fact that there was a vote at all is evidence of a hairline crack within the Democratic Party.
Since Mironov’s election as chairwoman in 2018, Mercer Democrats have had nothing but enormous electoral successes, yet various key elected officials - Congresswoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman, County Executive Brian Hughes, County Clerk Paula Sollami Covello, State Senator Shirley Turner, Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora and Hopewell Borough Mayor Paul Anzano - decided, in the midst of the pandemic to attempt to defeat Mironov. That is salient and surprising.
This is not the first time that Brian Hughes and his political team have opted to support a candidate with little chance of springing an upset – remember their initial support of Mercer County Deputy Clerk Walker Worthy Jr. rather than Assemblyman Reed Gusciora for mayor of Trenton? Do they lack the ability to accurately count their support or is there something else going on?
Kelly Gange, the County Executive’s Chief of Staff, is an astute political operative. He knew that defeating Mironov was not going to be easy given her organizational skills, wide support in Mercer’s outer-ring communities, her extensive political and governmental connections outside of Mercer County (she currently is First Vice President of NJ Conference of Mayors and slated to be the organization’s next President) and her ability to produce lots of votes in East Windsor for candidates county-wide and in the 14th Legislative District. The fact that he tried to defeat her indicates concern about how much control the Hughes team would have in filling key offices that could become vacant over the next couple of years if incumbents decided to retire e.g., the County Commissioner seats of longtime incumbents Anne Cannon and Pasquale “Pat” Colavita, the State Senate seat held by Senator Shirley Turner (2021), and most importantly, the County Executive seat with its plethora of patronage (2023).
In addressing why he challenged Mironov, Schroth told The Trentonian that she has made many Democrats “feel alienated and disenfranchised … and they feel that their voices are not being heard and they are not being listened to.” It appears that Schroth, who was not the first candidate that was considered to challenge Mironov, was articulating those feelings within the Hughes camp regarding Mironov’s managerial style.
When Senator Turner was asked specifically by a reporter for The New Jersey Globe whether the “recent schism between Mercer County Democratic Chairwoman Janice Mironov and the Democrats in and around Trenton could leave a lasting rift in the county,” she answered, “Well probably, unless she changes her philosophy in terms of bringing everybody under the tent and not alienating segments of the population.”
Those who opted to challenge Mironov appear to have been at odds with her over a sense that she was being less attentive to Trenton’s historic preeminence in party politics because of shrinking voter turnout in the city and that she had taken a few actions that were seen as racially insensitive by some. Mironov vigorously refuted all of the contentions of racial insensitivity and pointed to various initiatives she had taken including establishing an outreach committee that is broadly representative of all elements of the Party. Regarding allegations that she failed to fully fund the Trenton Municipal Committee GOTV effort for the general election (distribution of socalled “street money”), she indicated that her only intent was making sure that the funds were used in the most effective way possible.
What was at the root of the battle over the Mercer County Democratic Party’s leadership? I think it was less about Mironov’s leadership style, her demeanor or her level of racial sensitivity and much more about political power. The attempt to defeat Mironov was a blatant “power play” by the Democratic establishment to maintain its hegemony in Mercer County politics.
The Mercer County Democratic Party is both fortunate and unfortunate to have a plethora of potential talented candidates for the County
Executive seat in 2023 when it is expected that Brian Hughes will retire. Possible candidates could include Assemblyman Daniel Benson, County Commissioner John Cimino, County Commissioner Sam Frisby and Aaron T. Watson, the deputy county administrator and brother of Congresswoman Bonnie WatsonColeman. It behooves the party to reduce the likelihood of a potentially disruptive primary fight.
The County Executive race in 2023 is the key to Democrats reigning supreme in Mercer County. There will, no doubt, be a great deal of jockeying involved in the selection of the party’s nominee for County Executive if Brian Hughes steps down. As most of the potential nominees currently hold positions that are coveted, there will be a great deal of horse trading.
It is going to be a fun time for political observers and pundits with lots of backroom political deal making. I would not be surprised to see a grand compromise struck that involves Dan Benson, John Cimino, Wayne DeAngelo, Sam Frisby, Linda Greenstein, Janice Mironov, Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, Shirley Turner and Aaron Watson.
Irwin Stoolmacher is president of the Stoolmacher Consulting Group, a fundraising and strategic planning firm that works with nonprofit agencies that serve the truly needy among us.