Elton Conda

Burlington County Republicans are expected to endorse Freeholder Vincent Farias for Surrogate. Farias, a five-term Freeholder and former Mayor of Edgewater Park, will run for the seat being vacated by Elton Conda, an 86-year-old Republican who has held the post since 1966. If Farias wins, the Burlington GOP will hold a Special Election Convention in January to fill his seat on the Board of Freeholders; he would be up for election in 2007.

Elton Conda, who has been the Burlington County Surrogate since 1966, has told party leaders that he is ready to step down this year -- as long as Freeholder Vincent Farias isn't selected to replace him. Sources say the friction between Conda and Farias is so bad that the 84-year-old Surrogate could run again just to block Farias from getting his job. Farias has been desperate to move up and has been lobbying party leaders for the chance to become Surrogate.

Elton Conda will not seek re-election as Burlington County Surrogate in 2006. Conda, 84, has held the post since 1966. He has slowed down in recent years -- Conda works mornings and takes a nap on his office sofa -- and may be the only New Jersey elected official who actually lives in a nursing home; he is a resident of the Masonic Home of New Jersey, a long-term care facility in Burlington. The leading candidate to replace him is Freeholder Vincent Farias, who has been not-so-subtly eyeing the job for the last few years.

Elton Conda, the 84-year-old Burlington County Surrogate, is leaning against seeking re-election to the job he has held since 1966. Conda has slowed down in recent years -- he works mornings and takes a nap on his office sofa -- and may be the only New Jersey elected official who actually lives in a nursing home; he is a resident of the Masonic Home of New Jersey, a long-term care facility in Burlington. The leading candidate to replace him is Freeholder Vincent Farias, who has been not-so-subtly eyeing the job for the last few years. If he does run, Conda is probably a safe bet for re-election: Democrats would be hesitant to criticize an officeholder's age two years before Frank Lautenberg seeks re-election.