Barbara Plumeri

The first Democrat to reach out to the media in the wake of the resignation of Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo is Barbara Plumeri.

She is looking to get the Democratic nod to run for mayor in the special election next fall. She'll likely face the person selected by the Republican council in the next few weeks to serve as mayor. In the interim, Council President Kevin Meara serves as mayor until as late as Dec. 20. The candidates will face off for the rest of Bencivengo's term, which runs until 2015.

Plumeri has worked as Director of Administrative Services for Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey) after he was elected in the 1980s. She has also worked as a Regional Director for Job Placement for the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, as well as several positions in the administrations of two Democratic governors.

“The next mayor of Hamilton faces the daunting task of helping our community heal from a terrible betrayal of the public trust,” Plumeri said in a press release. “Based on my work in the private and public sectors, I know what it takes to make government work for the people it serves, instead of the other way around. Together, we can move beyond the travesty of the past and restore ethics, integrity and fiscal stability to Hamilton Township.”

Her husband, Sam Plumeri, Jr., served as Sherriff of Mercer County for more than a decade and served as Superintendent of Police and Director of Public Safety for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Sam Plumeri Jr. is currently the Vice Chairman of the State Parole Board and Chairman of the Board of Capital Health Systems.

Bencivengo was convicted in federal court last week of taking $12,400 in bribes from the government’s cooperating witness, Marliese Ljuba, in exchange for his influence with the Hamilton Board of Education, so that she could keep her lucrative health insurance brokerage for her employer, Allen Associates.