Appearing in court last July, the winners of the June 2025 primary election for the Cherry Hill Democratic Committee were Cherry Hill residents, from left, Rena Margulis, Susan Druckenbrod and, far right, David Stahl. Joining the group, left of Stahl, was Kate Delany, president of the South Jersey Progressive Democrats.
Monday, April 20, update: The Camden County Democratic Committee and state Sen. James Beach filed an application to make a motion with the Appellate Division to stay the appeals court ruling pending a potential appeal to the state Supreme Court, according to the Progressive Democrats' lawyer, Yael Bromberg. The request to seek a stay was denied.Â
The long-standing grip on Cherry Hill Democratic politics by the George E. Norcross III faction was released by two words Friday in a state appellate court decision.
Three Cherry Hill residents who are members of the South Jersey Progressive Democrats won last June's primary for the Cherry Hill Democratic Committee. The losing Norcross group ran its committee, with names for all 74 seats on the ballot. Voters voted once, either for the Progressives or the traditional group.Â
After their loss, Norcross Democrats challenged the Progressives' rights to fill the 71 vacancies, maintaining the names must come from those who were listed on the ballot.
State Superior Court Judge Michael J. Kassel last July "enjoined defendants (the three Progressives) from taking any post-election organizational activities and directed the CCDC to fill seventy-one vacant seats from its slate of unsuccessful candidates," explained the three appellate judges.
"We reverse," they stated in the Friday opinion, dismissing the traditional Democrats' lawsuit.
David Stahl, chair of the Cherry Hill Democratic Committee, said his group of Progressive Democrats is "ready to fix the foundation of our crumbling democracy."
"What we're witnessing is a new dawn of people power," Stahl said in a statement after the decision announcement. "We are fighting back, and we are ready for a people-powered movement, devoid of corporate lobbyists and big money corrupting our politicians and lawmakers."
Added Rena Margulis, the committee's vice chair: "We have proven that with the new fair primary ballot, the Norcross machine can be defeated in the heart of its power base, Cherry Hill."
Margulis said the group has resumed recruitment of Cherry Hill registered Democrats to fill the 71 vacancies on the committee.
"Thank you to the voters of Cherry Hill who believed in us and who cast their vote for us,"Â Susan Druckenbrod, the committee's treasurer and third member elected last June, said in a statement.
Voters in the June primary elected the Progressives over the Norcross group by a vote of 5,547 to 3,350, or 62% of the votes cast.
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.
The traditional Camden County Democratic Committee and state Sen. James Beach sued the Progressives group in state Superior Court in Camden.
The appellate court ruled that the three Progressives are the ones to screen candidates and fill the 71 vacant seats based on the failure to elect.
"There is no statutorily imposed quorum requirement preventing defendants from serving as the Cherry Hill Committee because the quorum is determined based on the three individuals duly elected in the June 2025 election," according to the appellate decision. "Defendants are not required to fill the vacancies on the Cherry Hill Committee from the 74 unsuccessful candidates."
The three appellate judges who made the decision were Jessica R. Mayer, Katie A. Gummer and James R. Paganelli.
