Robert Untig

Wayne Yahm

Law enforcement officer Wayne Yahm of Franklin Borough announced today that he will be a candidate for the Republican nomination for Sussex County Sheriff next year. 

A captain with the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office with 28 years on the job, Yahm was the Democratic candidate for Sheriff in 2007. Subsequent to his loss, he changed his party affiliation. Today he told PolitickerNJ.com that he's confident the GOP will remain neutral in the 2010 primary.

“In an ideal world, law enforcement should be free of politics, and candidates for those positions in public office should be judged on their records, service, and management experience," Yahm said in a release. "Following my last campaign, I met with many county Republicans who showed me very clearly that my thinking was much more in line with the Republican Party.  And it’s been validated over the last ten months as I’ve seen massive new spending and a proposed government run health care system in Washington.”

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."

All eight countywide elected officials from Sussex County today endorsed Christopher Christie for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, along with Sussex GOP Chair Ailish Hambel and former County Chairman Richard Zeoli.  But Christie has not yet scored a Sussex sweep, with U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett (R-Wantage), State Sen. Steven Oroho (R-Franklin), Assemblywoman Alison McHose (R-Franklin), Assemblyman Gary Chiusano (R-Frankford), former State Sen. Robert Littell, and former GOP State Chair Virginia Littell still uncommitted in the Republican primary for Governor.

When he ran for Sussex County sheriff as a Democrat in 2007, Wayne Yahm lost to then six-term incumbent Sheriff Robert E. Untig by a 58 to 42 percent margin, making him the “most successful” Democratic Party candidate that year in heavily Republican Sussex, in his words. 

Membership in a perpetually losing party organization held little interest for Yahm, however, as he digested his loss a year and a half after the fact and decided to change parties.

On Wednesday, Yahm delivered an affiliation declaration form to the Commissioner of Registrations Office in Newton, switching from the Democratic to the Republican Party.

Republicans in Sussex County are becoming slightly nervous over the re-election prospects of longtime Sheriff Robert Untig, who may face an aggressive -- and possibly well-financed -- challenge from a career law enforcement officer with close ties to the Bergen County Democratic fundraising machine.

Untig, in office since 1991, has taken some heat recently for his decision to retire from the New Jersey police pension system, so that he can draw a pension while continuing to earn nearly $100,000 as the full-time Sheriff. The incumbent has already attracted two Republican primary challengers, Franklin Councilman Jack Stoll, who is a Sussex County Sheriff's officer, and Mount Olive Police detective Mike Strada.

Democrat Wayne Yahm has spent twelve years on the Franklin Board of Education, and 25 years as a Bergen County Sheriff's officer. A captain, he now runs the Bureau of Crime Scene Investigation and Detective Units. Bergen County Sheriff Leo McGuire endorsed Yahm at his announcement earlier this month.