The 24-year-old farmer from Wantage will seek the Republican nomination for Sussex County commissioner in the June primary, challenging two-term incumbent Herbert Yardley (R-Stillwater), 72.
Jack DeGroot worked as an intern in the office of New Hampshire Governor Christopher Sununu as a graduate student at the University of New Hampshire, where he is pursuing a master’s degree in statistics. He graduated from High Point Regional High School in 2017, the same year Yardley was elected to the Board of Freeholders and was the first there to score 1000 points a decade later. He played college basketball at Marywood University.
“I am deeply committed to preserving our rich agricultural heritage and believe that supporting our local agriculture is critical,” said DeGroot. “If elected as the next Sussex County Commissioner, I will advise, promote and ensure that we maintain and protect our farmland and be the voice of Sussex County agriculture to the rest of the state.”
A former Stillwater mayor and firefighter, Yardley spent nearly four decades as a health official in several municipalities.
Sussex has no organizational lines, and Democrats have not won a countywide election since Howard Burrell won the seat as a freeholder in 1999.
The June 6 primary could also decide whether there will be another vacancy on the Sussex County Board of Commissioners. If Dawn Fantasia wins her State Assembly race, a special election convention will be held in January or February to fill her seat.
