Earl Schick selected by GOP to fill Sussex County commissioner seat

Earl Schick, who announced last fall he would be seeking election to the Sussex County Board of Commissioners, was elected by the Republican Party to fill out an unexpired term on that board, serving until the end of the year.

Schick fills the spot vacated by Dawn Fantasia, who won election to the state Assembly in last fall's election and took office last month.

Under state law, since a Republican held the seat, it was up to the county party to select a replacement to fill out the term, which would have been up for election this year.

At the GOP convention over the weekend, Schick defeated Alan Henderson in a vote by enrolled Republicans at that meeting. Henderson was elected to the Lafayette Township Committee in November.

Schick ran unsuccessfully in the 2022 Newton Town Council election.

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Fantasia, a former Franklin Borough councilmember, had to resign her county position to accept the Assembly post. Schick steps into an all-Republican, five-member board which is the governing body for county government.

Schick, a 37-year resident of the county, announced last fall that he would seek Fantasia's seat.

Schick has been involved in local government as a planning board member and is also a small business owner with financial and management experience.

"Sussex County has always been one of the greatest counties in the State of New Jersey," Schick said last fall. "Our county's core beliefs and values are reflective of the many hard-working, blue-collar citizens that reside here."

Schick joins a board where the most senior of the four members is Jill Space, who was selected to fill a vacancy on the board in April 2022, and won a full, three-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2023. She and Commissioner Bill Hayden, are up for election in 2025. Commissioner Director Chris Carney and Schick are likely to see full terms this year. Commissioner Jack DeGroot began his first term on Jan. 1.

When he announced last fall that he would seek Fantasia's seat, Schick said, "I’ve celebrated many of life’s major milestones in Sussex County. My first ever homeownership was in Wantage, raising my son in Andover and Newton, starting my small business in Byram, watching my granddaughter grow in Fredon, assisting many homeowners throughout the county as mortgage professional and recently marrying my beautiful wife Donna in Andover.

"Being a small business owner in Sussex County, I’ve experienced firsthand the healthy and supportive 'pro' small-business culture we have and I understand the imperative nature of nurturing this environment."

Schick served for six years in the New Jersey Army National Guard and called it an honor for "service to my community and to my country."

As to current political climate, Schick said the national and state economy "are being destroyed by politicians in Trenton and Washington" and "It is up to us to defend Sussex County from the tax and spend policies of the Democrat controlled legislature, the Governor’s office and the White House."

Schick is expected to be formally sworn in as a commissioner at the board's next meeting at 6 p.m. Feb. 14 in the board's meeting room in the county Administrative Center, 1 Spring St., Newton.

This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Sussex County NJ commissioner seat filled by Earl Schick