The allies of state Sen. Nia Gill (D-34) this week are preparing for rejection by the three counties owning pieces of the Tenth Congressional District, but they take heart in the senator’s epic off the line effort in 2003.
Gill faced political extermination by the Essex County Democratic Committee that year and successfully ran and won.
Her campaign strategy included running with a doomed sheriff’s candidate, John Sterling, who ate a loss to inveterate winner Sheriff Armando Fontoura but beat Fontoura 2-1 in his and Gill’s home town of Montclair.
To this day, Fontoura refers to Sterling as the Sheriff of Montclair.
This week, Montclair Deputy Mayor Roger Taylor submitted petitions to run for sheriff with Gill, sources told PolitickerNJ.com.