NEWARK — A court challenge to dump Denis Wilbeck as a challenger in the upcoming special election for state Assembly in the 31 st district has failed. Democratic Incumbent Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell challenged 70 petition signatures, which if thrown out would have stopped Wilbeck from appearing on the ballot in November.
Attorneys Joe Wax and Bill Northgrave presented the case in the Newark Office of Administrative Law (OAL) before Judge Karaszegi, who denied the challenge and said Wilbeck has enough signatures to be on the ballot.
O’Donnell will be facing Wilbeck, Robert Mays and Republican Joe Turella to fill the unexpired term of Anthony Chiappone, who resigned last month after pleading guilty to election law violations. – Al Sullivan