Deborah Trout

Hunterdon County Sheriff Deborah Trout is expected to announce next week that she will not seek re-election to a second term in 2010.  Trout had been battling with GOP leaders in the county, and some had sought her recall earlier this year.    Trout won a narrow 89 vote victory over veteran Freeholder George Muller in the 2007 Republican primary.  A third candidate, Tony Critelli, finished just 275 votes behind Muller in a four-way race.  Gary Howell finished 548 votes behind Critelli.

The effort to recall Hunterdon County Sheriff Deborah Trout has failed, according to a report yesterday in the Hunterdon County Democrat.

Donna Simon, chairwoman of Outwithtrout.org, told the paper her group collected about 6,700 signatures – far short of the amount of signatures needed by the July deadline.  Law requires that 25% of registered voters as of the last general election need to sign a petition to force a recall election, which in Hunterdon County amounts to almost 22,000 signatures.

Trout has butted heads with freeholders and other local officials during her first year-and-a-half in office.  Adding to the controversy, her office was raided in December in an investigation of hiring practices by the Hunterdon County prosecutor.  

Simon told the newspaper that she was hopeful for an indictment. 

SOMERVILLE - Striking the familiar podium pose of a law enforcement official, this time with the accoutrements of county brass behind him, GOP gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie today vowed to reduce violent crime as governor and stem the spillover of urban gang violence into the suburbs.

"We need a governor who understands that we need to get violent criminals with handguns off our streets," said the former U.S. Attorney, standing in Veterans Memorial Plaza near the Somerset County Courthouse as all eleven Republican county sheriffs endorsed him for Governor.

"We have a lot more to do to fight violent crime," said Christie. "Anyone who travels with any frequency around this state knows we need to do much more. Mayor (Cory) Booker entered a partnership with the U.S. Attorney's Office, and it has been effective in Newark, but there is much more."

Democrats could have a rare opportunity to win in Hunterdon County this year, if GOP Sheriff Deborah Trout winds up facing a recall election in November.   The way it works is that there are two simultaneous elections: a yes or no on recall, and an election to fill the remaining fourteen months of Trout's term if she is recalled.  There is no primary and no designation of Democrats or Republicans, although a party organization is certainly free to endorse.  If Republicans can't agree on a single candidate - a likely scenario at this point, since a Trout supporter could also get in the race - it's possible for Democrats to win a three-way race.

A group seeking to recall Hunterdon County Sheriff Deborah Trout has taken the first step - the formal delivery of a sample petition to the County Clerk, who must now certify that the format meets state requirements.  Mary Melfi, the County Clerk, has three days to do that. After that, the organizers of the recall movement, OutWithTrout.org, have exactly 160 days to collect 21,866 signatures to put a recall referendum on the ballot for the November general election.  Melfi will then have seven days to certify the signatures.

State law requires petitions to include reasons why an elected official should be recalled and must include a statement of rebuttal.  Signers certify that they have read both statements.

The recall statement is:

Entrance to the Hunterdon County Sheriff's Office

FLEMINGTON – Hunterdon County Sheriff Deborah Trout said she has no intention of resigning her office as the county prosecutor’s office examines materials it seized from her office last week as part of an investigation into hiring practices at the sheriff’s office.  

“It’s a power play, that’s all I can come up with,” Trout told PolitckerNJ.com today. “The freeholders don’t want a sheriff’s office. They’re picking on our office. I was told if they could, they would not have a sheriff’s office. One thing I know is they’re not going to find anything. I believe it to be a fishing expedition.” 

Last Monday, Trout’s receptionist called her downstairs to meet Detective Ken Row and other investigators.

Hunterson County Sheriff Deborah Tout, a Republican in office since January 2008, is being pushed to resign by at the all-Republican Hunterdon County Board of Freeholders.

After a year of feuding with the freeholder board over budget issues and hiring practices, Hunterdon County Sheriff Deborah Trout thought she was starting to make progress.

She had met with Freeholder Will Mennen one-on-one several times, and he was helping her iron out the differences. So it came as a surprise to her and the rest of the board two weeks ago when Freeholder George Melick introduced a resolution calling on Trout, who is only one year into her first term, to resign.

"Things are settling down, everyone is happy, getting what they want: peace," Trout said. "And, then when that came out, I said ‘Where is this coming from? We're finally getting things done.'"

The non-binding resolution contained a litany of complaints mostly focused on the argument that Trout failed to fulfill - or even attempt to accomplish -- her main campaign promises. Unprepared for such a drastic statement, the board put off its decision for a week, instead adopting a slightly watered down version by a vote of 3-2, which called on Trout to resign if she did not immediately begin fulfilling every one of her campaign promises.

Seventh district Congressional candidate Kate Whitman touted a last minute endorsement from Hunterdon County Sheriff Deborah Trout today.

That’s Whitman’s first endorsement from Republican rival Leonard Lance’s native Hunterdon County. Lance supported Trout’s unsuccessful opponent, George Muller, in a close primary for sheriff last year.

They didn’t get along, the 17-year veteran of the New Jersey State Police turned county sheriff, and the ex-special education teacher turned county secretary, turned law enforcement officer. But the incident that led to what is likely a permanent souring between the two Republicans occurred on the day that Hunterdon County Sheriff William Doyle was examining shotguns and Sheriff’s Officer Deborah Trout entered the room.

It was then another opposition was born.