NJ court voids Mosquera's Assembly election, OKs her as fill-in

The New Jersey Supreme Court invalidated Assemblywoman-elect Gabriela Mosquera's November election on Thursday in a ruling that upheld the state's 12-month residency requirement for candidates.

But it said that Democratic officials could appoint Mosquera to the Fourth District seat, which has been vacant while the court considered the legal questions surrounding the election.

"Mosquera would meet eligibility requirements for appointment as interim successor, if she were selected," according to the court ruling.

Were the Democrats to appoint Mosquera, a staff member with Gloucester Township Mayor David R. Mayer, she would face a special election in November.

Mosquera moved to the district - which includes portions of Camden and Gloucester Counties - in December 2010 and was aware of the one-year residency rule. She said she ran for the seat anyway because the state Attorney General's office had not enforced the residency requirement since 2002, when a federal court found it violated candidates' constitutional rights.

Mosquera's attorney did not immediately return a phone call for comment.

The election of Mosquera, who lives in Gloucester Township's Blackwood section, came under scrutiny after Republican Shelley Lovett - whom Mosquera defeated handily - filed suit in Superior Court in December.

What appeared an unlikely challenge to a nearly decade-old federal court ruling was validated when Camden County Superior Court Judge George S. Leone, an appointee of Gov. Christie, declared the residency requirement constitutional and voided Mosquera's election. She was not allowed to be sworn in last month.

Lovett already has plans to run against Mosquera in November's special election, said her attorney, Matthew Wolf.

"We gave Gabriela Mosquera a civics lesson," Wolf said. "And come November she's going to have a rematch."

Contact staff writer James Osborne at 856-779-3876 or jaosborne@phillynews.com.