Ex-Oakland mayor (D) seeking support for Bergen Surrogate
Bergen County Democrats are increasingly looking at former Oakland Mayor Linda Schwager as a candidate for Surrogate to replace Michael Dressler, the longtime Democratic incumbent who died on December 4
Bergenfield Mayor Arvin Amatorio has been seeking party support for Surrogate, and he is well-liked among party leaders. But his town already has an assemblyman, Chris Tully, and a county commissioner, Raphael Marte, and there is growing concern that adding a surrogate could be too much in a county with seventy municipalities.
Englewood Municipal Court Judge Helene Herbert is also quietly mulling a run for surrogate; Dressler’s widow, Agata, has been advocating for her candidacy.
A former president of the Bergen County Bar Association, Schwager won three terms as mayor of Oakland, a Republican-leaning town, before losing re-election by just 21 votes out of nearly 4,400 cast in 2023 to Republican Eric Kulmala. She lost a council race the following year.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/local/ex-oakland-mayor-seeking-support-for-bergen-surrogate/