UPDATE: This story has been updated with details from Kim Hurdman, from A.J. Oliver, Mayor Tim Dougherty and Morris Democratic Chairman Chip Robinson.
The Morristown Democratic committee voted online Friday night to strip A.J. Oliver of his chairmanship over his anti-abortion activism.
Oliver won’t resign, he said on Monday.
His unwillingness to explain his stances, and how he can maintain leadership with “a foot in both camps,” left the committee in an “untenable position,” committee Vice Chairperson Kim Hurdman said over the weekend
She said 82 percent of committee members who participated Friday expressed “No Confidence” in Oliver. The committee no longer recognizes him as chairman. His formal resignation has been requested, Hurdman said.
“I will not resign as Chairman of the Morristown Democratic Committee,” Oliver responded Monday in a statement. “I work every day to advance our values and will continue doing so. I urge those on the rest of the Committee to join me planning for Democratic victories in 2022!
“Whole Life Democrats in our communities are asking the Democratic Party to be true to its principles of defending the vulnerable and marginalized. This includes women, unborn children, and people at every stage of life,” said Oliver, an Episcopal priest and Army veteran.
Mayor Tim Dougherty backed Hurdman.
“I agree with the actions of the committee,” Dougherty said Monday via email.
Morris County Democratic Chairman Chip Robinson said he is “figuring out next steps.”
Oliver’s anti-abortion views and his opposition to the state Reproductive Freedom Act have brought condemnation from the Morris County Democratic organization, and from progressive groups such as NJ 11th for Change and the Morris County Democratic Women’s Caucus.
When Oliver stood for election as chairman, Hurdman said, he “withheld relevant information about his public advocacy.”
That included his co-chairmanship of the state chapter of Democrats for Life of America, and his lobbying in Trenton against the Democrat-sponsored Reproductive Freedom Act, and on Capitol Hill last month when the Supreme Court heard oral arguments about a Texas Mississippi abortion law, Hurdman said.
Oliver said he should not be silenced for opposing “extreme measures” of the Reproductive Freedom Act.
“There should not be an unofficial or official litmus test imposed that marginalizes and bullies those who do not personally agree with every single plank of the Democratic platform,” he said.
Oliver has resisted prior calls to step down, asserting the Democratic party has room for divergent opinions and emphasizing his efforts to help local Democrats win re-election during his two years leading the committee.
Maria Dryer Slabaugh sees it differently.
“As bad as his personal views are for women…. it’s his activism around those anti-women views that are the issue,” the Madison resident posted on Morristown Green’s Facebook page.
“Have your private beliefs….but when you actively work against a woman’s autonomy over her own body, you don’t belong in the Democratic party leadership. Especially when you actively hid that activism,” Slabaugh said.
Oliver’s views surfaced this fall during his unsuccessful bid for Morris County Commissioner. NJ 11th for Change withdrew its endorsement after coming across a video from last December in which Oliver addressed Democrats for Life of America, which endorsed him.
NJ 11th for Change played an important role in helping Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a pro-abortion rights candidate, flip the district from red to blue in 2018.
With congressional Democrats bracing for tough mid-term elections in 2022, having an anti-abortion chairman in one of Morris County’s few Democratic strongholds could be viewed as a political liability by some within the party.
Democracy at its finest. NOT!