After a June primary election for a Roselle council spot was nullified after months of legal challenges, the courts let the municipal Democratic Party select the nominee: challenger Cynthia Johnson.
Incumbent Denise Wilkerson, who lost the nomination to Johnson, said the emergency meeting where Democrats picked Johnson included voters who were not eligible members. The allegations come in a lawsuit that Wilkerson has filed against the Roselle Democratic Committee, Johnson, and Assemblyman and Roselle Democratic Chair Reginald Atkins.
The court-ordered Democratic committee vote earlier this month wasn’t particularly close — Johnson won 20-7. Still, Wilkerson asked a judge to void the results of that vote because two voting members were allegedly ineligible. The lawsuit claims one person wrongfully substituted another member of the Roselle Democratic Committee, while another was invited to vote despite no longer being a Democrat.
Wilkerson accused Atkins of repeatedly violating bylaws and regulations, pointing to a 2023 do-over vote in which he won re-election to the Roselle Democratic chairmanship.
“Atkins must be held accountable for his actions, and all actions taken at the September 14, 2025 meeting should be made null and void,” Wilkerson wrote in her pro se lawsuit.
Atkins said Wilkerson resorts to the courts after defeat.
“I have not been served,” Atkins said in a statement. “This lawsuit is not surprising, Ms. Wilkerson has a history of suing when outcomes don’t go her way.”
He said he’s confident in the process.
“Twice the Roselle Democratic Committee voted fairly and transparently, and twice Cynthia Johnson was the clear choice by a double-digit margin,” he said.
In the primary, Wilkerson was initially ruled to have defeated Johnson by three votes. Superior Court Judge John Deitch denied Johnson’s request for a recount earlier this summer, but an appellate court overruled him. The recount brought Wilkerson’s margin down to two votes, but kept her in the lead.
Johnson continued the legal challenges. Earlier this month, her attorneys presented three voters whom Deitch ruled were illegally disenfranchised. With those findings, Deitch nullified the election and ordered a redo of the primary. Late last week, Deitch determined he lacked the authority to order a new election so late in the process and changed his mind. Instead, he told Roselle Democrats they had until this past Sunday to select a candidate, which ended up being Johnson.
The appellate court upheld Deitch’s decision and, in a short order signed by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner last week, the Supreme Court affirmed the appellate division’s ruling and ordered the county clerk to begin distributing mail-in ballots.
