Sabrin slate booted in Bergen

A Bergen County judge today invalidated the petition signatures of an alternate slate of Republican freeholder candidates in Bergen County that included Senate cadidate Murray Sabrin's wife.

The judge ruled that candidates Florence Sabrin and Paul Mladjenovic only had 94 valid signatures – six short of the 100 needed to get on the ballot. The two were running on a slate headed by Murray Sabrin, under the slogan “Constitutional Republicans Protecting the Liberty.”

Sabrin had pledged to run alternate slates of candidates in most counties.

"We obviously disagree with the ruling today.  We feel there are sufficient signatures and we are in the process of seeing what the best course of action is from here," said Sabrin spokesman Adam Alonso.  " We do, however, feel that it’s unfortunate that it’s come to a legal proceeding instead of letting the voters decide who they want.” 

Ajjan did not say whether the freeholder candidates planned to appeal the decision, and referred legal questions to a Sabrin staffer who was not immediately available for comment.

The petitions were challenged by Bergen County Republican committeeman Gary Berner.

If the decision stands, the BCRO’s freeholder candidates will not not face a primary challenge in June.

The Bergen County Democratic Organization’s freeholder candidates were also challenged by a rival Democratic slate on the grounds of a mixed up date on a notarized document, but a judge dismissed the complaint yesterday.