AG Sides With Progressive Slate In Cherry Hill Election Lawsuit

CHERRY HILL, NJ — The state attorney general claimed the Camden County Democrats are undermining the will of Cherry Hill's voters in a lawsuit that pits the county party against the outsider slate that won last month's Democratic Committee election.

The South Jersey Progressive Democrats defeated the Camden County Democratic Committee's slate in the June 10 election selecting members to the 74-member Cherry Hill Democratic Committee.

The Progressive slate featured three candidates — Susan Druckenbrod, Rena Margulis, and David Stahl — while the county party's had 74. But voters could only choose one ticket or the other, and the Progressives received 5,547 votes to the county party's 3,350 in an upset victory.

The newly elected members planned to make appointments to fill the rest of the vacancies. But the county party sued, asserting that they do not have the authority to fill the 71 empty seats.

On Monday, State Attorney General Matt Platkin filed a motion to intervene in the case, claiming that the county party is overstepping its bounds.

"In our democratic system, voters determine the outcome of an election," Platkin said on X. "And elections have consequences. No one gets to change the rules after the election and subvert the will of voters. We’re committed to protecting the integrity of elections in Cherry Hill and across NJ."

Platkin filed a motion seeking to participate in the case as an "amicus curiae," which would allow him to present an argument during legal proceedings despite him not being a party in the lawsuit.

The attorney general opposed a judge's temporary restraining order from June 23 that prevents the winning Progressive slate from filling the vacant seats.

"This case involves a post-election attempt to disrupt the straightforward application of those statutes," Platkin said.

Among other duties, the Cherry Hill Democratic Committee chooses candidates to appear on the ballot's Democratic line in township elections. Receiving the party's endorsement gives candidates a heavy advantage over any primary challengers and in a heavily blue township, a major advantage in general elections.

As the county's largest municipality, Cherry Hill also holds 74 votes on the Camden County Democratic Committee, which has 522 members.

William Tambussi, the county party's attorney, asserts that Cherry Hill's election winners are only entitled to three committee seats.

In a brief filed Monday, Tambussi claimed that the three Progressives lack a quorum, which prevents them from filling the vacancies under the current bylaws of the township's and county's Democratic committees.

"Cloaking themselves in self-righteousness, the Progressives repeat ad nauseum that the three of them were 'overwhelmingly elected,'" Tambussi wrote, "but somehow forget that they are three individuals. They were elected. They have been seated. The law entitles them to nothing more."