Paulsboro organization candidates win, but why did they have a primary at all
A Paulsboro councilman lost last week’s Democratic primary by a 3-1 margin, but he probably shouldn’t have been on the ballot at all.
Incumbent Eric Singleton was routed by another councilman, Tahje Thomas, and his running mate, Michelle Baylor. Baylor was the top vote-getter with 393 votes, followed by Thomas with 377. Singleton finished much further behind with 114.
Thomas had challenged the validity of Singleton’s nominating petition in a lawsuit that took Superior Court Judge Benjamin Telsey a month to decide, even though vote-by-mail ballots had already gone out.
The challenge was filed by Thomas on April 6, but Telsey didn’t schedule a hearing until April 17. He gave the attorneys ten days to file briefs and left three days for him to read them. When he finally held his hearing on April 30, twelve days had already passed since the VBMs were sent in the mail.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/local/paulsboro-organization-candidates-win-but-why-did-they-have-a-primary-at-all/