Judge sides with Norcross Democrats in Cherry Hill Democratic Committee dispute, but the battle rages on.

Although a state Superior Court judge on Friday sided with the Camden County Democratic Committee and state Sen. James Beach in their lawsuit against South Jersey Progressive Democrats, the dispute over who gets to fill vacancies on the Cherry Hill Democratic Committee will continue.

The maverick Progressive Democrats, challenging the status quo of the Democrats informally led by power broker George E. Norcross III, say they will take state Superior Court Judge Michael J. Kassel's decision to the state Appellate Division.

As a group, Susan Druckenbrod, Rena Margulis and David Stahl won June's primary election for the 74-member Cherry Hill Democratic Committee. The Norcross slate listed 74 candidates but lost. The Progressives maintain they get to fill the vacant 71 slots while the other Democrats contended in court that the vacancies must be filled by those who were listed on the losing side of the ballot.

Cherry Hill Democratic voters backed the Progressives as a group over the Norcross Democrats as a group by a vote of 5,547 to 3,350 in the election.

An order by Judge Kassel enjoins the Progressive Democrats from organizing and filling the 71 vacancies. It also orders the Camden County Democratic Committee to convene a meeting to fill the vacancies from its 74 candidates, but that part of the order has been postponed for 45 days to make time for an appeal.

At stake is control of matters of the powerful Democratic Party in Cherry Hill, including candidate selection and choosing citizens to fill elected offices when they become open between elections. The Cherry Hill unit also is the largest single faction on the 522-member Camden County committee, which has even more power.

Other 70and73.com coverage of the issue

• Power Play: Maverick Cherry Hill Democrats unseat traditional Democrats from influential committee.
• If the primary election was an 'earthquake' for New Jersey, the epicenter was in Camden County.
• Post election: County Democrats sue maverick Cherry Hill Democratic group to keep it from taking over.
• Lawsuit by Cherry Hill Democrat faction a 'blatant power grab,' say the maverick Democrats who won.
• NJ AG: Wrong lawsuit decision in Cherry Hill Democrats dispute could undermine voter confidence.

Several times during Friday's hearing, Judge Kassel talked of the novel legal issues and the need to make a decision with no case law as a guide.

"This is uncharted territory," Kassel said. "There's no precedent" for what happened in Cherry Hill, he later said to the courtroom.

"I suspect there is going to be an appeal," Kassel said during the hearing.

Margulis told 70and73.com after the hearing that it was clear that "voters chose to throw out" the Norcross Democrats by voting for the Progressives.

"The judge recognized the importance of the will of the voter, and we will be pursuing that with the appeals court," Margulis said.

During the hearing, William M. Tambussi, representing the plaintiffs, maintained that the Cherry Hill committee needed a quorum, and not a decision by three people, to fill vacancies. 

Tambussi said this was an "intra-party" skirmish and challenges "the right of the Camden County Democratic Committee to run and conduct its own affairs."

Yael Bromberg, who specializes in Democracy law and voting rights, represented the Progressives and tried to present evidence showing the Camden County Democratic Commitee slate of candidates would underrepresent parts of Cherry Hill. In one instance, three people from the same household were put forward as Norcross Democrat candidates on the committee, she said.

But the judge interrupted her presentation, saying it was not germane to this case or the subject of the lawsuit.

The election was "a qualification for membership" on the Cherry Hill committee and three individuals were elected, Bromberg said. The 74 candidates from the Norcross faction lost, she said.

"The public interest favors our side," Bromberg told the judge, asking him to let the Progressives fill the vacancies.

"The voters were very clear. They looked at the 2025 ballot and they selected three candidates...they chose not to select the slate of 74. Their vote for the three was just as important as their decision and their vote not to select the 74," she said, noting that the plaintiffs want to relegate the three winners to hold only 4% of the Cherry Hill seats and the losing faction to hold 96% of the seats.

"They voted for change and that vote for change did not happen in a vacuum," Bromberg added.

Judge Kassel repeatedly interrupted Bromberg's argument, acknowledging at one point that he has a habit of doing so. Much of Bromberg's time before the judge evolved into discussion and debate with Kassel over points of the law concerning voting. After one back and forth, Kassel asked Bromberg: "How much more time do you think you're going to need?"

State Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin this week filed to be a "friend of the court" in the case, asserting that the Norcross Democrats "seek to rewrite the rules of the election."

Altering the rules "carries the same risks of severely undermining voters' confidence in the electoral process, discouraging civic participation, confusing voters, and depriving voters of their right to select representatives of their choice," according to Platkin's motion.