NEWARK – Burlington County Republicans tonight are expected to go with Ryan Peters, a Navy SEAL, as the replacement for Assemblywoman Maria Rodriguz-Gregg (R-8).

Rodiguez-Gregg last week declared her decision not to pursue reelection.

If ratified by the committee as anticipated, sources say, Peters would join the incumbent LD8 Republicans in time to appear on the November ballot. Among multiple hopefuls for the seat, Peters ultimately outdueled rising star Lumberton Mayor Sean Earlen.

According to the Burlington County website, Peters saw multiple combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and is currently a Lieutenant Commander in the Naval Reserve, assigned to SEAL Team Eighteen. An attorney with Pepper Hamilton LLP in Philadelphia, Peters is also a certified anti-money laundering specialist with experience in Anti-Money Laundering compliance and internal investigations.

Peters received his J.D., cum laude, from Rutgers School of Law in Camden in 2012, where he was editor-in-chief of the Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion, President of the Student Bar Association, and a Legislative Fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. After graduating from Holy Cross High School in Delran, Peters received a B.S. in political science, cum laude, from the United States Naval Academy in 2004 where was the captain of the Division I varsity soccer team and a Fellow at the Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Conference