Sussex County primary features 5-way GOP fight for commissioner and six local contests

Bruce A Scruton, Newton New Jersey Herald
·2 min read

Tuesday's primary election will offer choices for registered Sussex County Republicans to make in key state, county and local elections, including a half-dozen municipal contests.

There's also a five-way race for two GOP nominations for county commissioner. In a solidly Republican county, the winners in the June 4 party vote will be all but assured of victory in the general election. No Democrats have filed to run, though write-in candidates could qualify.

Republican candidates for Sussex County commissioner in the 2024 primary include (clockwise from upper right): Earl Schick, Harvey Roseff, Robert Kovic, Christopher Carney and Alan Henderson.
Republican candidates for Sussex County commissioner in the 2024 primary include (clockwise from upper right): Earl Schick, Harvey Roseff, Robert Kovic, Christopher Carney and Alan Henderson.

Sussex commissioner candidates

The Republican field includes incumbents Chris Carney and Earl Schick as well as would-be challengers Alan Henderson, Robert Kovic and Harvey Roseff. Voters may select two candidates.

Carney and Schick have touted their stewardship of county government and its $122.8 million budget through the COVID pandemic, including their ability to tap into federal relief funds to keep key programs running. Kovic, the former executive director of the Sussex GOP, has sought to make an issue of alleged mismanagement of a food pantry program, claims that Jill Space, the head of the commissioners' board, has dismissed as "outright lies."

Carney and Henderson are running as a ticket, as are Kovic and Roseff. Schick was appointed to the board in January to fill a vacancy.

More: Five candidates crowd race for two spots in GOP Sussex County Commissioner primary

Which towns have primary contests?

In many other races, candidates are running unopposed in the primary. But multiple contenders are vying for municipal seats in Branchville, Franklin, Hopatcong, Montague, Ogdensburg and Stanhope.

Republicans and Democrats will also choose nominees for president, House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate − four Republicans and three Democrats are on the primary ballot seeking to be their party's candidate for the seat currently held by Bob Menendez.

No New Jersey state legislative elections are on the ballot. Those races are held in odd-numbered years, are on the ballot.

Independent candidates for any of the county or local elections can file nominating petitions to run with the county clerk up until 4 p.m. on Tuesday. If there are enough valid signatures on the petitions, the candidate will appear on the November ballot as an independent.

More: Our guide to New Jersey's 2024 elections for president, senate, congress

Municipal races

The six municipalities with contested primaries include these contenders. Except for Branchville, all candidates are Republicans:

  • Branchville Borough Council, two seats: Keith Whitehead, Russell H Bellis Jr., Troy C. Orr, Melissa Fischer and Randolph S. Morse on the GOP side; Jeffrey Lewis is unopposed for a Democratic nomination.

  • Franklin Borough, two seats: Rachel Heath, Patricia Carnes and Gilbert J. Snyder.

  • Hopatcong Borough, two seats: Michael Francis, John Young, Esad "Steve" Kucevic and Joseph Falconi.

  • Montague Township, two seats: Barbara Holstein, James LeDonne, Joseph Krumpfer.

  • Ogdensburg Borough, two seats: Lynn D. Lame, Richard Gandarinho and Kenneth Poyer.

  • Stanhope Borough, two seats: Tyler Simpson, William Thornton and Najib Iftikhar.

Email: bscruton@njherald.com Twitter/X: @brucescrutonNJH

This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Feisty Sussex County commissioners race headlines June 4 primary