Debbie Sarcone

They couldn’t beat the GOP machine outright, so they’ve decided to toss a wrench into the Burlington County freeholders’ race.

Republican elected officials Jon Shevelew and Debbie Sarcone announced today that they intend to back the Democratic team of Chris Brown and Mary Anne Reinhart.

Shevelew, the Republican Mayor of Shamong, and Sarcone, the only Republican elected official in Evesham, ran off the line together as freeholder candidates in the Republican primary.

At the time, Burlington County Republican Chairman Bill Layton called them "bugs on the windshield" in the face of GOP Freeholder Director Aubrey Fenton and his running mate, Freeholder Stacy Jordan.

This one is interesting: former Governor Christine Todd Whitman and the Republican Leadership Council (RLC) is taking sides in the Republican primary for Burlington County Clerk and Freeholder.  Whitman is backing Lauri Sheppard for County Clerk,  and Jon Shevelew and Debbie Sarcone for Freeholder.  The three are challenging the candidates backed by the powerful Burlington County Republican organization, which is run by two onetime Whitman allies, County Chairman Bill Layton and the de facto party leader, Glenn Paulsen.

Burlington County Republicans will meet on Thursday to screen potential candidates to replace Assemblywoman Dawn Addiego on the Board of Freeholders.  The potential candidates include Lumberton Mayor Pat Delaney, Evesham Councilwoman Debbie Sarcone, and Bordentown Township Committeeman Mark Roselli -- but Republican insiders say that the GOP organization is not necessarily satisfied with the field and may continue to recruit other candidates.  Addiego, who took her Assembly seat last Tuesday, has not yet resigned from the Freeholder board, so there is no urgency to the Burlington GOP’s search for a replacement.