By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Assemblyman-elect Antwan McClellan joked that he plans to stay on City Council a little bit longer because he enjoys “getting on the nerves” of Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian and his administration.
“I’m not gone yet,” he said, smiling.
Less than two weeks after McClellan won election to represent the First Legislative District in the state Assembly, his fellow Council members gave him an unofficial send-off Thursday night with plenty of accolades, humor and some tears.
“When you won, my mother acted more excited than when I won,” Councilman Bob Barr told McClellan while comparing McClellan’s Assembly victory to Barr’s election to City Council in 2016.
The Council Chambers erupted in laughter at Barr’s remarks.
However, Barr and other Council members choked back tears while speaking about their deep friendship with McClellan and the respect they have for him as a public official and community leader.
“I couldn’t love a human being more than I love Antwan McClellan,” Councilman Keith Hartzell said as McClellan sat directly beside him at the Council table.
Hartzell characterized his involvement in McClellan’s Assembly campaign as a “life-changing experience” that also touched him in a spiritual sense.
“I saw the grace of God in Antwan McClellan,” Hartzell said.
Barr predicted that McClellan will go on to become not only New Jersey’s best assemblyman, but also the “nation’s finest assemblyman.”
“I will do everything I can to see that you are successful,” Barr told McClellan.
Other Council members predicted that McClellan will have a huge impact at the Statehouse in Trenton.
“Trenton, look out,” Councilman Michael DeVlieger said of McClellan.
“This guy is the greatest guy in the world,” DeVlieger added. “He’s going to represent us well.”
McClellan has already made history by becoming the first African-American elected to represent the First Legislative District and will be the first African-American Republican lawmaker in the state Legislature since 2002, according to media reports.
The 45-year-old McClellan, who has served as Ocean City’s Second Ward councilman since 2012, will officially step down from the governing body when he is sworn into the Assembly on Jan. 14. His last Council meeting will be in early January.
Council has the option of appointing someone to fill McClellan’s unexpired term on the seven-member body after he resigns or may simply leave the seat open until the municipal election next May. McClellan’s four-year term on Council expires in May.
“How did the Bulls replace Michael Jordan?” DeVlieger said of Council’s challenge of finding someone of McClellan’s stature to fill the open seat.
Hartzell explained that Council has not yet decided whether to appoint someone or leave the vacancy open.
“I’m open to whichever way it goes,” he said. “We’re hoping we get someone we can work with.”
McClellan was part of a Republican sweep to “Flip the First,” the legislative district that represents Cape May and Cumberland counties and part of Atlantic County.
The Republican trifecta in the First Legislative District included McClellan and Lower Township Mayor Erik Simonsen capturing the Assembly seats and Vineland attorney Michael Testa winning the Senate race. They defeated the Democratic team of Sen. Bob Andrzejczak and Assemblymen R. Bruce Land and Matthew Milam.
The election was overshadowed by a campaign mailer that darkened McClellan’s complexion and depicted him as an Aunt Jemima or Uncle Ben-style figure. Republicans strongly denounced the mailer as a racist attack orchestrated by a South Jersey Democratic political action committee.
During Thursday night’s meeting, some of the Council members repeatedly condemned the mailer while emphasizing their support for McClellan.
“I’ll always have your back and I know you’ll always have mine,” Hartzell said to McClellan.
Barr called the mailer “ugly.” At the same time, the Council members praised McClellan for rising above the mailer’s offensive content.
“You handled it with the ultimate grace and dignity,” Barr said.
In an interview after the meeting, Barr and Hartzell criticized Democrats for not denouncing the mailer.
“It was wrong,” said Barr, who is a Democrat.
