state senator Nellie Pou Thursday night officially secured the Democratic nomination to replace the late Congressman Bill Pascrell in a fast-tracked process that gave the party just eight days to pick a successor before ballots go to print for the November election Pou was the sole candidate and got a unanimous vote at the special County Convention held in Wayne 464 committee members from Bergen pic and Hudson counties voted in favor of her nomination following the end Ms of party power Brokers throughout the 9th Congressional District Governor Murphy and even Pascrel'ls family that led po competitors to drop out of the race one by one this week Paterson mayor Andre Sayegh and assembly members Shavonda Shavonda Sumter, and Benji Wimberly all tossed their hat in the ring but didn't get the support senior political correspondent David Cruz breaks down the nomination process and what's next in the District 9 race [Music] in a year where their succession process has been more in Focus than probably ever Before the Race To Succeed the late Congressman Bill Pascrell on the Democratic ballot for the fall ended before it even really began in just a few days time only one of the four candidates was left standing I give you now Senator Nellie Pou our nominee I know you're a very humble person but this is like a big as as Joe Biden once said to Barack Obama this is a big effing deal yeah well it is a big deal I am so honored and privileged and just so proud and when to become the first Latina in the history of the state of New Jersey to go to Congress but Po's successful campaign as it were brought the succession process into Focus again state law says committee members vote to make the pick but in reality only the three guys the county chairs in Hudson Bergen and pic Counties have to agree on a candidate inos case Bergen's backing was critical and it brought along Hudson and pic quickly which led to this week's proforma exercise may I have a vote but an acclamation vote is not exactly a secret vote even with just one candidate to choose from and critics including H Patel of the New Jersey Institute for social justice say a secret vote is the minimum level of democratic process voters should be entitled to even given the tight time constraints in this case in terms of this existing system yes I think it's fair to go hey you could you should have at least an expectation if not a change in law an expectation to go hey you um should have a Anonymous vote a ballot a secret ballot a one of those fundamental parts of democracy the whole idea of a secret ballot do that let candidates come and make their case um instead of having a process where everyone watches how heavy-handed party bosses are and then just has to live with it Billy Prempeh the Republican who will face off against Poy in this blue District says Pou is what happens when the party chairs call the shots she's not the most qualified compared to the other candidates if they believe that she's the one then I want her to get on the debate stage because I think the people deserve the right to know what this candidate actually stands for especially since they've been isolated for so long Nellie Pou would appear to be the favorite in November pascrell won this District by 12 percentage points in 2022 the next question of course is who will succeed Po in the state senate the same potential candidates for pascrell seat will likely put their names up for that process which includes a Convention of committee members in the 35th legislative district the maneuvering for that seat has already begun for Democrats today they seem to be okay to have arrived at a solid blue vote like Nelly Poe with just maybe a touch of uneasiness about how they got here I'm David Cruz NJ Spotlight News [Music]