First-ever black Glouco sheriff, a Republican, sworn in despite racist Democrat retaliation

Jonathan Sammons (R-Mullica Hill) was sworn into office on Wednesday, Save Jerseyans, several weeks after defeating five-term incumbent Democrat Sheriff Carmel Morina by 1,565 votes.

It’s living history: Sammons is the first black sheriff in Gloucester County history.

South Jersey Democrats were less impressed and threw a hissy fit: after his big win, the Democrat-controlled county voted to kick the sheriff out of the county administrative office on South Broad Street in Woodbury and relegating him to the long-closed former county jail building on Hunter Street. Segregation? You bet, and retaliation against a black Republican because he’s a black Republican.

“[W]hen I read the accounts of a plan to move Sheriff Sammons office away from the rest of County Government, I felt compelled to speak up about what I saw happening in my home county, especially in the Sheriff’s office I grew to be so found of as a youth,” wrote Jeff Booker, a black Republican councilman from Monmouth County in an open letter published Wednesday. “Like my father and I, Sheriff Sammons is an African American man and the first person of color ever to be elected to lead the department. That’s a proud moment for the community and it would be truly shameful to have this milestone.”

Gloucester County voters also election two commissioners last month setting up a control race for outgoing Senate President Steve Sweeney’s home county in 2022.

Matt Rooney
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MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.