Central Jersey Progressive Democrats Respond to Middlesex Dems Announcement Ending Gender Discrimination in its Party Rules
Last week, CJPD candidates who won preliminary relief allowing them to run for County Committee in last year’s Middlesex County Democratic primary without regard to gender restrictions filed additional papers with the Court to end the discriminatory practice in Middlesex County for good. Their proposed amended complaint, attached to a motion for leave to file an amended complaint, asks the Court for permanent relief so that women and non-binary candidates can run for County Committee party seats free of state-sanctioned gender and sex discrimination.
Plaintiff Kamuela N. Tillman, a 2019 CJPD candidate who won her County Committee seat, remarked on the recent MCDO announcement:
“As the Middlesex County Clerk, Elaine Fynn is the endorsed candidate of the Middlesex County Democratic Organization. We hope that the announcement by Mr. McCabe will persuade the County Clerk to settle the suit without further delay. If we did not win preliminary relief in June, I would have lost my seat to a male candidate, even though I received many more votes than he did. The court’s relief allowed me to run for and win this office free of discrimination. We want to make sure that the door remains open for future women and nonbinary candidates,” said Tillman.
MCDO is named as an interested party in the proposed amended complaint. MCDO’s announcement, issued the day after the CJPD motion was filed. Coverage of CJPD’s announcement regarding its amended complaint for permanent relief is available here. It notes that clerks in Mercer, Hunterdon, Passaic, Cumberland and Cape May counties allow candidates to run as “committee members” and that in Essex County the rule is not enforced uniformly by the Party chairs.
