Loud campaign for county commissioner highlights a quiet primary in Morris County

Outside of some noisy campaigns in Dover and the 26th District Legislature races, there are only a handful of contested primaries for Morris County voters to decide on Tuesday.

Only four Morris mayors − Carolyn Blackman in Dover, Joseph Panullo in East Hanover, Mark Taylor in Florham Park and Joseph Jackson in Rockaway Township − face challengers in their respective primaries. As for elected town council, committee or alderman board members, only seven towns − Florham Park, Kinnelon, Long Hill, Morristown, Parsippany, Rockaway and Roxbury − have more than one candidate running as Democrats or Republicans.

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GOP rematch

That leaves the Morris County Commissioner Board, where only one seat is in play this year, but features a rematch of two Republicans who clashed last year in the GOP primary for Congress in New Jersey's Morris-centric District 11.

Former Passaic County assistant prosecutor Paul DeGroot won a surprise victory over Morris County Commissioner Tayfun Selen, despite Selen winning the endorsement of the Morris County Republican Committee. DeGroot advanced to the general election with strong support from Essex and Passaic counties, but incumbent Democrat Mikie Sherrill won with a comfortable 59% of the vote.

This year, DeGroot has turned to seek county office in Morris, where he drew 47% of the 2022 Congressional vote. His entry into the race set up a rematch with Selen, a former Chatham Township mayor.

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Both sides have ramped up the campaign rhetoric.

“I have already shown that Commissioner Selen can be beat and that he lacks commitment to core Republican values to represent our Republican Party,” said DeGroot, now in private practice.

DeGroot added Selen has declared personal bankruptcy and was voted out of office in Chatham Township before becoming a commissioner.

Selen's campaign has labeled DeGroot a "RINO' (Republican in name only) who declared "Joe Biden is my president" when asked about Donald Trump's election denial, and said he would be willing to "work with Gov. Phil Murphy."

DeGroot's actual line, spoken during a debate with Sherrill, was "I'm not against Democrats, I'm not for Republicans, I'm independent. I'll work with Phil Murphy. I'll work with anyone."

The commissioners oversee a $331 million annual budget that includes an array of healthcare and economic development programs, the county 911 system, spending for the sheriff's and prosecutor's office, county roads and 20,000 acres of parkland, among other departments.

It's no surprise that Selen was endorsed by his fellow commissioners. He also won the Morris County Committee endorsement vote by a 3-1 margin.

DeGroot is now ticketed with a group of other elected office candidates off the county line, including Commissioner Tom Mastrangelo in the GOP primary for state Senate in the 26th district, BettyLou DeCroce in the 26th Assembly race and her running mate, former Parsippany Councilman Robert Peluso.

Selen touts his personal "great American success story" who immigrated from his native Turkey in 1996 and worked as a gas station attendant in Madison to make ends meet.

"When I arrived in the U.S., I didn't speak English, I didn't have any money on me," he said. "But I wanted the opportunity you can only get in America. November 19, 2008, the proudest moment of my life: I became an American citizen."

He is now a vice president of the Lincoln Technical Institute and replaced Heather Darling on the county commissioner board after Darling was elected county surrogate in 2020. He was elected to a full term that same year.

"For the past four years since Commissioner Selen was on the board, there have been zero tax increases at the county level," the Morris Commissioner wrote in a statement of support. "Commissioner Selen is a successful businessman, an American success story and a champion for our families and taxpayers."

"The county budget has been able to maintain a 0% tax increase three years in a row not due to prudent fiscal policy but because rateables have gone up," DeGroot said. "You will need a fiscal conservative on the board to reign in county spending."

DeGroot, a Montville native, leans on his law-enforcement record in Passaic County, where was promoted to chief prosecutor for the Homicide, Narcotics and Government Corruption units.

"I dealt with government bureaucracy, I saw first-hand how budgets are wasted, how manpower is misused," DeGroot said in a campaign video. "I think experience is something wonderful to bring to the commissioners. I also dealt with government corruption. I prosecuted government officials for breaking the rule of law, and put a few of them in prison."

The primary likely will decide the outcome of the general election. Morris County has not elected a Democrat commissioner (formerly known as freeholders) since the post-Watergate era.

Mayor, council primaries

Dover's mayoral primary features three Democratic candidates for mayor, who recently addressed the issues during an online debate: incumbent Carolyn Blackman, former Ward 3 Aldermen Edward Correa and former mayor James Dodd. Like the commissioner race, the primary will likely decide the winner of the November general election in a heavily-Democratic town.

Another crowded field is found in Parsippany, where three seats are open and two veteran council members are retiring from public office. Five Republicans have filed to run for three seats on the currently all-GOP board in Morris County's largest municipality.

Paul Carifi Jr. hopes to win a fourth term and is ticketed with two political newcomers: Adam Kandil and Matt McGrath. If elected, Kandil would become the first Muslim on the Parsippany council.

Rounding out the GOP primary field in Parsippany is former Board of Education member Gary Martin and Lake Parsippany resident Dharmesh (Danny) Desai. Martin finished third in the 2021 Republican council primary for two available sets. The winners, Justin Musella and Frank Neglia, also won in the general election.

The Republican primary will face Democrats Judy Hernandez, Bernard Clarkin and Matt Kavanagh in the general election as they have no primary competition.

Aside from Dover, the most intriguing contested mayoral primary in Morris County is found in Rockaway Township, where former council rivals Joseph Jackson and Tucker Kelley are competing for the Republican nomination. Jackson is now the incumbent mayor. Kelley lost his bid for a second council term in 2021.

The winner will face Democratic Councilman Manny Friedlander in November.

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Morris County NJ commissioner highlights local primary races