Surrogate Mary Ann O’Brien’s swearing-in today as a judge creates some political volatility in Burlington County.

Depends if they can appoint a Democrat or Republican to replace her but she was up for re-election in 2021 anyway.

It has LD8 implications. Do they move state Senator Dawn Addieo (D-8) over to run for Surrogate and a pension bump (and avoid a battle vs Assemblyman Ryan Peters [R-8], who’s pawing at the turf)? Do they move Co-Commissioner Linda Hynes (attorney) over to surrogate? Other names for surrogate include Gina LaPlaca and Mark Natale on the bench who are also attorneys.

Hynes moves over to surrogate it opens a seat on the FH board for Evesham Deputy Heather Cooper, who is close to powerhouse state Senator Troy Singleton (D-7).

Short list for LD8 in 2021: LaPlaca, Cooper, Pemberton Mayor Dave Patriarca, Pat Hansen (Evesham councilwoman and labor candidate). Will the Dems mount a serious challenge in LD8 or wait for a new map? Does Assemblywoman Jean Stanfield (R-8) have another fight left in the tank? They begged her to run last year.