The Sussex County GOP committee will meet virtually Saturday to hear from three candidates to fill the open seat on the county Board of Commissioners.

Following that session, the committee members will have a two-hour window to vote via secret ballot online. The winner of the election will get the open seat on the Sussex County Board of County Commissioners.

The opening was created at the end of 2020 with the resignation of Josh Hertzberg, who had one year left in his three-year term. He ran for, and won, a seat on the Sparta Township Council.

The candidates, who filed with the county committee by the close of business on Friday, are Frankford Township Committee Member Chris Carney, Franklin borough Councilman Joe Limon,  and former Lafayette Township Committee member and current member of the Lafayette Open Space Committee Carl "Bud" Luthman.

County GOP Chairman Jerry Scanlan said the candidates will have a chance to make a statement and answer questions via Zoom at 11 a.m. Saturday to only committee members.

There are 119 election districts in Sussex County and each district has two committee positions.

Scanlon said not all the 238 seats had been filed by the deadline, but was unsure on Sunday how many vacancies remained.

Hertzberg resigned from the Sparta Council when he won election in 2018 to the county position, then known as freeholder. New Jersey law does not allow anyone to hold two elected offices simultaneously.

When a vacancy occurs on the county governing body, the political party which held the seat is empowered to name the replacement by election by the party's county committee members. The committee is composed of two registered party members from each of the several election districts within each municipality. 

Since Hertzberg's term would have expired at the end of this year, the winning candidate will serve until then. The winner will have to run for election to serve the next full term.  

Source: https://www.njherald.com/story/news/2021/01/25/county-gop-to-select-among-three-candidates-for-board-of-commissioners/6694338002/?fbclid=IwAR1Oq4yZJ90PKKBcikBuml53OWfbMZ9RKC62H3f0KJ9p80QGsvvsJn7W6VM