Former Edison candidate alleges 'dictatorial rule' by Middlesex County Democratic chairman

Former Democratic primary Edison Township Council candidate Robert Kentos isn't taking his ouster from the party line earlier this year lying down; he's taking it to court.

Kentos, 48, representing himself, filed a lawsuit earlier this month against the Middlesex County Democratic Organization and its Chairman Kevin McCabe for overriding the votes of the organization's members in the Edison Democratic Organization over the selection of mayoral and Township Council candidates.

Kentos, a lifelong Edison resident, is an elected Middlesex County Democratic Organization committeeman in Edison's District 20, 2nd vice chair of the Edison Democratic Organization and a former 2023 Edison primary Township Council candidate who plans to run again in the 2025 Edison Democratic primary for Township Council and participate in the township democratic organization's candidate endorsement process.

Earlier this year Kentos was one of four Township Council candidates selected by the Edison Democratic Organization to run on the party line in the primary. The other candidates endorsed by the organization were Councilman Richard Brescher, Asaf Shmuel and Lav Patel.

The Middlesex County Democratic Organization however paid for signs supporting the Mayor Sam Joshi Team for Edison Council which listed incumbent Councilmen Joseph Coyle, Ajay Patil, Brescher and newcomer Shmuel who ran together on Column B. Coyle and Patil did not receive the Edison Democratic Organization's endorsement when they screened in March, but when they filed, they did request to run under the Middlesex County Democratic Organization banner.

While the Edison Democratic Organization committee people selected Brescher, Shmuel, Patel and Kentos, Brescher said McCabe decided to negate the vote of the committee and assign the line himself, giving it to Brescher, Coyle, Patil and Shmuel who won in the primary and general election. Kentos and Patel ran off the line on Column D in the primary.

It wasn't the first time McCabe has changed which Edison candidates get the party line.

In the Edison 2021 mayoral race McCabe removed Edison Democratic Chairman Mahesh Bhagia from the party line due to Bhagia's alleged connection to an investigation into racist flyers sent during a 2017 Board of Education election, coupled with his allies forming a slate to challenge other county political leaders.

McCabe awarded the party line to then Councilman Joshi for the primary, who went on to win the mayor's seat in November. Kentos's lawsuit mentions Joshi did not participate in the 2021 Edison Democratic Organization's candidate selection process.

Kentos is asking the court to restrain McCabe and the Middlesex County Democratic Organization from interfering or overruling the Edison Democratic Committee's candidate selections until there is a "dictatorial provision" in the candidate selection process.

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He's also looking for the court to rule whether McCabe has violated his party's bylaws in both the 2021 and 2023 Edison Democratic Organization candidate selection process.

McCabe has not responded to several requests for comment.

Iris Delgado, Middlesex County Democratic Organization executive director, said she had "no comment."

According to the lawsuit the Edison Democratic Organization has 156 committee members who are charged each election cycle with voting to endorse mayoral and Township Council candidates who will run under the party's banner in the primary election.

According to the lawsuit, for 66 years the Edison Democratic Organization candidate selection process has been the tradition and the results of the Middlesex County Democratic Organization municipal committee members vote was never disturbed.

In the fall of 2022 Kentos received encouragement to run for a seat on the Township Council in 2023. He participated in the March 2023 Edison Democratic Organization Candidate Selection Convention where he received third place with 62 votes. Brescher took first place with 80 votes, Shmuel, 65 and Lav Patel, came in fourth with 56 votes.

The lawsuit alleges that after the Edison Democratic Organization candidate selection, Joshi said he would be deciding who gets the county line in Edison and he would relay his selection of candidates to McCabe to overrule the vote of the Middlesex County Democratic Organization committee members involved in the candidate selection.

Joshi also allegedly said he didn't believe Kentos would vote in his favor if he were elected to the council so he was not supporting him for the county line "and McCabe would accomplish that," the lawsuit states.

According to the lawsuit, on March 29, 2023, McCabe refused to place Kentos and Patel on the county line and instead placed Coyle and Patil.

McCabe made no official statement about the change, the lawsuit says, and Bhagia, the Edison Democratic Organization chairman, made no attempt to challenge McCabe's authority to overrule the Edison committee's vote because no attorney would take the case in fear of retaliation from McCabe, the lawsuit says.

"The continuance of (McCabe’s) unchecked authority to overrule the vote of statutory local committee organization in Edison will render the duly-elected 156 MCDO committee members in the districts of Edison Township powerless and cause the EDO (Edison Democratic Organization ) to become inert after over 68 years in existence," the lawsuit says.

According to the lawsuit, McCabe has insinuated he intends to continue to overrule the Committee's vote in perpetuity and render the local municipal organization in Edison powerless, until a vote goes his way.

The lawsuit says the defendants have granted themselves "dictatorial rule" over the candidate selection and the voting rights of their own MCDO committee members, causing harm to the democratic process in the bylaws of both organizations.

The lawsuit also states the defendants have not taken or forced "dictatorial control" in any other local political party organization in Middlesex County.

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Middlesex County NJ Democratic Party sued over 'dictatorial rule'