When Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock launched his campaign for Congress last month, he included among his endorsers Kevin McCann, the chairman of the Cumberland County Democrats and an important figure in the South Jersey Democratic politics. One day before Cumberland Democrats’ convention, McCann is now claiming he made no such endorsement.
Cumberland Democratic recording secretary Judy Laning sent an email to local Democrats yesterday evening insisting that, despite reporting to the contrary, “Kevin has NOT endorsed any candidates for any open positions.” McCann, reached by phone this morning, said it was “absolutely not true” that he had endorsed Mullock for the 2nd congressional district, saying he did not know where the New Jersey Globe had learned that he had.
After being told that he had been included in Mullock’s own campaign announcement as a day-one supporter, McCann said “it’s not an endorsement to support someone.” When asked what that meant, the chairman said “I don’t want to talk to you” and hung up.
Mullock’s campaign disputes that account of events, saying that Mullock met with McCann before launching and McCann confirmed he could be counted as a supporter.
“Simply put, this is silly. With an important committee vote approaching, it’s no surprise that other campaigns are trying to muddy the waters.” campaign spokesperson Justine Magariel said in a statement. “We will continue to meet with, speak to, and listen to the people of this district, regardless of endorsements, titles, or position.”
The campaign said it had not heard from McCann to dispute the reported endorsement since the story first ran on February 17, more than two weeks ago. The Globe similarly had not received any pushback on its reporting prior to yesterday.
The endorsement snafu adds another wrinkle to the already unpredictable race for the 2nd district, where five Democrats are hoping to take on Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis). Mullock, former USAID official Bayly Winder, and civil rights attorney Tim Alexander have split the bulk of local support thus far, and the Cumberland convention will be the first chance for them to prove their mettle to local committeemembers in the district.
It’s also far from the first time in recent years that intraparty troubles have engulfed the Cumberland Democratic Party. For years, the local party has been riven into competing factions that frequently support rival slates for county office and snipe at one another over which faction is truly in charge.
In 2024, that resulted in two entirely separate county conventions, each purporting to be the true incarnation of the county party, and a lawsuit over the party’s leadership. The rift had not healed by 2025, when two McCann-backed candidates narrowly defeated a member of the rival faction in the Democratic primary for county commissioner.
Several members of the anti-McCann faction are supporting Alexander for the 2nd district this year, with four local municipal chairs endorsing Alexander this morning. One of those municipal chairs, Upper Deerfield’s Sandy Acevedo, had also taken to social media to protest McCann’s reported decision to endorse Mullock.
“When leaders come out and endorse candidates, in violation of their own procedures, before the Municipal Chairs and the members of the Democratic Committee have been given an opportunity to properly vet the candidate and be heard, you effectively remove the democratic process and institute a machine, special interest driven campaign,” Acevedo wrote on Facebook yesterday, though her post didn’t mention McCann by name.
More contested Cumberland primaries beyond the 2nd district could be on their way this year. According to Laning’s email, two candidates have signed up to compete for the sheriff’s office, while there are “a large number of Commissioner candidates with rumors of others wishing to be considered” for three commissioner seats. The sheriff candidates will go before county committeemembers at tomorrow’s convention, but the commissioner candidates won’t be heard until a later date due to time constraints.
Cumberland Democrats went through a rough period during the Biden era, losing all of their commissioner seats and nearly every county constitutional office, but have more recently been on the upswing. After flipping three commissioner seats in 2024 and 2025, the party has the chance to take back control of the commissioner board this year, as well as win the sheriff’s office they lost in 2023.
