Power Play: Maverick Cherry Hill Democrats unseat traditional Democrats from influential committee.

Rena Margulis, a Cherry Hill community activist, on Tuesday night had just checked final primary election results at her polling place when Cherry Hill resident David Stahl sent her a screenshot showing the town's vote by mail results.

Margulis was stunned, and later was even more surprised when the final tally came in.

Margulis, Stahl and town resident Susan Druckenbrod, members of the maverick South Jersey Progressive Democrats, were the choice of voters who booted the Camden County Democratic Committee Inc. — long run by power broker George E. Norcross III — from the influential town Democratic committee that is called on to make important political decisions.

The vote was 5,381 in favor of the Progressive Democrats and 3,234 for the traditional county Democratic Committee, according to unofficial results from Camden County released at 5:31 p.m. on Wednesday.

"I think every person in Cherry Hill was surprised," Margulis told 70and73.com in an interview Wednesday afternoon. "I think it was not only a surprise to us, but it was also a surprise to the (Democratic) machine," said the Cooper Park Village resident who has lived in Cherry Hill for 23 years.

Margulis called the victory in South Jersey's largest municipality a "return of the candidates from the machine to the people."

The committee of Democrats selects candidates to appear on the ballot's Democratic line, nominates residents to fill elected office vacancies and has 74 votes on the 522-member Camden County Democratic Committee, which has the same function for county-wide candidates.

Some who were digesting the election results on Wednesday suggested a legal battle now may ensue as the Norcross Democrats seek to regain power in Cherry Hill.

Camden County Democratic Committee chair and vice chair Jim Beach and Barbara Holcomb said in Wednesday afternoon statement: "Based on last night's results, we want to recognize and congratulate the members of the Progressive party who have gained three seats on the Cherry Hill Democratic Committee. At this juncture, we will be reserving further comment about the future of the committee until the election has been certified."

One legal contention could be over the Camden County committee running the full complement of 74 committee candidates versus the Progressive Democrats listing just three. The Progressive Democrats say they now will appoint 71 other Democrats from Cherry Hill.

"We weren't expecting this race to be competitive," Kate Delany, president of South Jersey Progressive Democrats, told 70and73.com in an interview. "We were completely shocked."

What's the bottom line to Delany, a Collingswood resident?

"We are becoming a much bigger presence in the party," said Delany, who wants to introduce district-level representation on the town committee with a special appeal to younger voters to join.

Ironically, the Camden County Democratic Committee's victory in court in a lawsuit brought by the Progressive Democrats may have been the reason for the undoing.

Stahl said the Progressive Democrats wanted every candidate for the town committee to have an oval next to their name — making the voter choose individuals rather than a committee. They argued that the state election law is violated by not voting for individual candidates.

The judge in the case agreed with the county's argument that the technology would prevent having ovals for all committee candidates for this election, said Stahl, a 10-year resident of Cherry Hill who lives in the Kingston section. 

It's anyone's guess about the outcome if voters had been given the chance to vote on the three Progressive Democrats and the 74 Democratic Committee candidates, he said. But a vote-by-candidate system, with everyone getting an oval, would have resulted in at least 71 of the traditional Democrats getting elected and holding onto power.

"We followed all the rules. They made the rules," Druckenbrod, who lives in the Erlton North neighborhood, said in an interview. The 24-year resident of Cherry Hill said she also was surprised by the outcome and agrees the make-up of the new committee should try to get representation from each of Cherry Hill's voting districts.

The town committee comes up with prospective candidates when there is a vacancy on Township Council or if the mayor resigns. The person who fills the vacancy becomes an incumbent, which historically has pretty much assured reelection in Cherry Hill. 

Stahl promised a transparent, inclusive decision-making process by his committee.

"We would not be making selections in the proverbial smoke-filled back rooms," Stahl said. "We are looking to bring more power back to voters."