Camden mayor Redd expected to announce she won’t run again

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Camden Mayor Dana Redd is expected to announce Wednesday that she won’t seek a third term, and will throw her support behind her chosen successor.

Redd scheduled an event Wednesday evening on the steps of City Hall to address “this year’s local elections” according to a statement from her office. Though she has declined to comment further, numerous city officials and others who are close to Redd have said for weeks that she would not run again. None would comment publicly out of deference to Redd.

Redd will likely use Wednesday’s event to endorse Camden City Council President Frank Moran, who in recent days has begun circulating petitions for his own candidacy. Three city council seats are also up for election.

The deadline for filing nominating petitions is April 3, with the primary in June.

Elected mayor of the heavily Democratic city of 77,000 in November 2009, Redd took office just as an eight-year state takeover ended in January 2010.

Redd oversaw the tumultuous dissolution of the Camden Police Department, which resulted in the creation in 2013 of a county regional force that patrols only Camden.

She also has presided over the start of a business development boom following the 2013 passage of the Grow New Jersey law, which has used the promise of state tax incentives to draw corporations including Subaru of America, Lockheed-Martin, Holtec and the Philadelphia 76ers to Camden.

A Camden native, the 49-year-old Redd served as vice-president of the City Council, and was a state senator from 2008 through 2010. She has also held seats on a number of Democratic committees.

Published: March 29, 2017 — 12:06 PM EDT

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