BRIDGETON — In 2024, election drama may center on a Cumberland County office that typically stays out of the public eye. As the final Democrat on the ballot to be elected to a countywide post, County Clerk Celeste M. Riley is in a unique situation come November.
Riley is looking for a five-year, third term. Standing in the way of Riley is a challenge from Republican County Commissioner Victoria Lods, a prior Riley opponent for clerk, and the growing popularity of Lods’s party with county voters.
Voters’ perceptions of county offices in Cumberland have changed significantly
The unavoidable role as the final Democrat standing isn’t helping, according to Riley, a Bridgeton resident and former assemblywoman, who said campaigning has never been her favorite activity. Riley remarked, “Well, I’m lucky to be running for president.” The top of the ticket appears to be gaining pace, which is fantastic, and I’m lucky about that.
All of that works to my advantage. Additionally, Cumberland has consistently supported the Democrat in the last four presidential elections, I believe. Therefore, I’m hoping for a large turnout. Since 2019, Republicans have won a number of county elections in a county that was consistently “blue” ten years prior. This year, the GOP seized total authority.
Though the GOP also won the races for the Surrogate’s Office and Sheriff’s Department in the most recent election, a 7-0 Republican majority on the board is unusual. Riley stated, “However, I hope the people of Cumberland County have acknowledged that I have fulfilled my commitment.”
I’m not a policy writer. Correct? I’m only carrying out the laws that the legislature has established for the position. Lods, a Millville high school teacher and Vineland native, says she feels at ease leaving the commissioners board since the clerk’s job offers something more in line with her dream government job.
After beginning as an intern in the Assembly office of former state politician Nicholas Asselta, Lods served as his chief of staff. She continued in her position after Asselta was elected to the state Senate. Then-Democrat Jeff Van Drew, who spearheaded a swing in Democratic fortunes in the area, defeated Asselta in the 2007 election.
Van Drew went on to serve as the 2nd District’s representative in Congress. However, he changed sides in 2020 and is currently contributing to the improvement of GOP positions in South Jersey. In the 2019 cycle, Riley defeated Lods in the clerk’s race. In 2024, the two camps are discussing some of the same topics, but she thinks the election landscape has changed significantly since then.
Don’t seem very impressive
Almost everyone will eventually need the clerk’s office, at the very least to register to vote and record a deed. In addition, it files a variety of additional paperwork grouped under “miscellaneous,” grants passports, and keeps track of military service discharges.
The office’s responsibility as a document issuer and registrar includes keeping business and legal records up to date and arranging them for convenience. Riley claimed that even a county native would find surprises in the collection, which is fascinating.
In order to ensure that we know for future reference what has been documented here, I am running for reelection in part to continue the work of not only recovering all of those kinds of data but also documenting them. This is our county’s history. In addition to the land transactions, there have also been actual genealogical transactions.
Lods also wants the office to provide more assistance to veterans of the armed forces. She claims that both an office-backed retail discount purchase program and an existing veteran identification program are operating poorly. According to Lods, “there is a discount card, but only eight businesses in the entire county are in that discount program for our veterans.” “And that just doesn’t seem very impressive to me.”