Following a meeting in which they reconsidered the eligible CD7 field in the aftermath of their candidate exiting the contest, Millburn Democrats tonight awarded their support to former Assistant Secretary of State Tom Malinowski.

Heading toward June, the win gave the candidate more Democratic Primary traction, which he’s built going back to his Feb. 4th Hunterdon victory.

Millburn proved a les than pro forma occasion, as committee members readjusted the granny glasses and put the candidates through a more rigorous question and answer obstacle course. They wanted to make certain they got it right this time in a district the Cook Report earlier this month changed from “Leans Republican” to “Toss up”.

It’s been trying, getting this right.

In the end, frontrunner Malinowski of Rocky Hill won with 14 votes.

Environmentalist Dave Pringle of Cranford came in second with five votes.

Summit attorney Goutam Jois garnered a single vote.

This was the second time Millburn considered this contest and awarded organization support to a candidate.

On Jan. 25th, Somerset and Essex (which contains only one CD7 municipality, Millburn) backed Berkeley banker Linda Weber over Malinowski as their choice to go up against U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-7). Then Malinowski went on a tear and beat Weber in Hunterdon, Warren, Morris and Union.

True to her word, Weber formally bowed out of the contest on March 14th after losing the line in her home county, prompting Millburn back to reexamine CD7. Working in conjunction with Essex County Democratic Committee Chairman Leroy Jones, local Democrats rescheduled a size-up for last night, but canceled the meeting in the lead-up to a snowstorm.

Tonight, they picked their candidate.

With Millburn out of the way now, the last-standing CD7 county of Somerset will reassess the field at its scheduled convention next Wednesday evening, and Malinowski continues to have significant momentum.