WEST CAPE MAY – Mayor Carol Sabo used the January meeting of the Cape Island Democratic Club to make her case for a planned run as a candidate for the state Assembly.
Sabo, who is in her sixth year as the borough’s mayor, says she is not going to seek reelection this year. Instead, she says, she has set her sights on challenging incumbent Republicans Erik Simonsen and Antwan McClellan for one of the two First District Assembly seats that will be on the ballot this year.
The First District encompasses all of Cape May County, much of Cumberland County and portions of Atlantic County. Since 2020 the district has been reliably Republican, with the Senate seat held by Vineland attorney Michael Testa.
Sabo, a social worker who has been a member of the borough’s governing body since 2013, has a B.A. from Gettysburg College and a master’s in social work from Rutgers and has worked with families and children her entire career.
She has spent 14 years with the state Division of Youth and Family Services and 23 years with Cape May County Schools for Special Services, during which she has acquired skills she feels are as useful in government as in social work. In an interview in Cape May Magazine Sabo spoke of the affinity between the two: To Sabo it is all advocacy and working with people on what they want and most need.
Running as a Democrat in Cape May County presents significant challenges. Fewer than one in five registered voters in the county are Democrats, as opposed to 44% registered Republicans and 32% independents.
Cape Island communities are home to some of the few oases of blue in the Republican sea of red in the county. Success in such a state election often depends on a strong showing outside of Cape May County. In 2023 the Democratic candidates for the First District failed to carry either Cumberland or Atlantic counties while losing big in Cape May County.
An email to the county Democratic organization on Sabo’s candidacy did not elicit a reply.
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