Piscataway Councilwoman Chanelle McCullum is emerging as the leading candidate to fill the vacant Middlesex County Board of Commissioners seat left vacant by the tragic death of 46-year-old Kenneth Armwood earlier this week.
McCullum has begun making calls to county committee members in anticipation of a special election convention to fill Armwood’s seat and is preparing to run in a November special election to fill the remaining year of his term, the New Jersey Globe has learned.
The Howard University-educated pharmacist comes with a political pedigree: her grandfather formed the first African American Democratic organization in Perth Amboy, and her mother, Mildred Scott, is the first and only Black woman to serve as a Sheriff in New Jersey.
McCullum was elected to the Piscataway Township Council in 2013 to replace Armwood, who had been elected to the freeholder board. She was re-elected in 2016 and 2020.
Armwood’s passing will put three freeholder seats up for election this year.
Middlesex Democrats have already endorsed incumbents Ron Rios and Shanti Narra for re-election, along with Carlibel Cortes for Surrogate.