This matter arises from a petition to invalidate the candidacies of two individuals elected to the Trenton City Council. Plaintiffs alleged Yazminelly Gonzalez did not satisfy the requirement that she reside in Trenton for one year prior to the election. They also alleged defendant Jasi Mikae Edwards was ineligible for office because she had a criminal history in Pennsylvania. The court affirmed the trial court's order dismissing both challenges.
The court first addressed plaintiffs' failure to establish standing under N.J.S.A. 19:29-2, which provides a petition challenging an election must be signed by at least fifteen voters in the county or, alternatively, by a candidate defeated in the election. Plaintiffs' petition had at most three signatures. Moreover, a subsequent attempt to add a defeated candidate to the petition was untimely.
Despite plaintiffs' failure to establish standing, the court addressed the substantive issue of whether Gonzalez was eligible to run for Council. The court ultimately affirmed the trial judge's credibility findings that Gonzalez satisfied the residency requirements set forth in N.J.S.A. 40A:9-1.13, in that she resided in Trenton for more than a year prior to her election.
As to Edwards, the court observed plaintiffs conflated the forfeiture and eligibilty provisions of N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2. The court noted the distinction between criminal offenses requiring the forfeiture of office pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2(a) and offenses rendering a candidate ineligible from holding office under N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2(d). N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2(a) authorizes forfeiture of public office when a person is convicted while "holding" public office if the offense: involves dishonesty, is a crime of at least the third degree, or involves or touches upon the candidate's public office. Importantly, Edwards was not convicted—while holding public office—of any predicate offense under N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2(a). Instead, her conviction occurred in 2019, prior to her holding office. N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2(a) does not bar a person from seeking public office in the future based on a past conviction.
The court noted an individual may run for public office so long as the candidate was not convicted of an offense "involving or touching on his public office." N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2(d). Plaintiffs did not allege Edwards' prior conviction touched on her public office. Although the court does not deem a shoplifting offense to be trivial, Edwards' conviction for shoplifting occurred prior to her election to Council, and she disclosed it when she became a candidate. Therefore, the court determined Edwards' conviction did not implicate N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2(d).
Lastly, the court further concluded that even if this matter involved a forfeiture claim, plaintiffs lacked standing under N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2(b)(2), because only the county prosecutor or the Attorney General have standing to challenge the holder of public office "when the forfeiture is based upon a conviction of an offense under the laws of another state or of the United States. . . ."