By MADDY VITALE
E. Marie Hayes has spent her entire career helping people, whether in Cape May County law enforcement or as a Cape May County elected official.
She will continue helping people, but in a new capacity. Hayes will now serve the public as Cape May County surrogate.
Hayes, who served as vice director of the Cape May County Board of Commissioners, was nominated by Gov. Phil Murphy and confirmed last week by the New Jersey Senate to fill the vacancy created when former Surrogate Dean Marcolongo left the post to become a Superior Court Judge.
Hayes, of Ocean City, was sworn in by Cape May County GOP Chairman Mike Donohue during a private ceremony Thursday, surrounded by her family.
“The Surrogate’s Office is a unique elective office,” Hayes said in a news release. “We help families with wills, adoptions and guardianships, among other things. There is a real opportunity to help people that I am truly looking forward to my new position.”
Hayes will hold the position until after the general election this fall. She is the Republican candidate for surrogate.
She will run against Democratic candidate, Beverly McCall in November. McCall, of Ocean City, is a local attorney. She received enough write in votes to run.
The surrogate serves for a five-year term.
Meanwhile, Hayes’ replacement on the Cape May County Board of Commissioners has yet to be determined. The Republican Committee will determine who will fill the post in a convention.
Hayes was re-elected to a three-year term on the commission in 2022. She was first sworn into office in 2013 to fill an unexpired term on what was then called the Cape May County Freeholder Board. She was re-elected in 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022.
Her career in law enforcement at the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office spanned from the late 1970s through 2009. She rose to the rank of captain. Her law enforcement experience will serve her well in her new position as surrogate, she said in an interview Thursday.
“I investigated all major crimes, but the majority of them were in child and sex assault cases. I am very well versed in the law and in the court system,” she said. “Even though the majority of my background is criminal law, I worked with social services agencies. We all worked together as a team.”
The crimes she investigated as a law enforcement officer gave her a lot of experience handling difficult circumstances, she said.
“I worked a lot with the families in crisis,” Hayes said of the crimes she investigated. “Working in the Surrogate’s Office you are working with people in a difficult time in their life, and you want to make that time as easy as possible for them.”
Hayes thanked Murphy and the state Senate for “their confidence in me.”
“I also want to thank Senator Mike Testa and CapeGOP Chairman Mike Donohue for all their help in the appointments process,” she said.
In the future, she plans to sit down with other county surrogates around the state to see what they do and what works well.
She also hopes to be able to continue her public speaking to assist people in understanding the importance of having a will.
“I want to do a lot of public speaking and go out to groups to instill the importance of having a will. It is a very difficult thing to talk about,” she said. “But the last thing you want is to have a big family fight. It is important that people have wills.”
While Hayes is excited about the next chapter in her career paths, she will look back at her tenure on the commission fondly, she said.
“During my tenure on the commission, I really became very close with the commissioners,” she said. “Everyone there brought something different to the table. We all respected each other.”
She also acknowledged that she will miss the leadership of Commission Director Leonard Desiderio, who became director of the commission this year.
“Leonard Desiderio is bringing a new type of leadership to the board and I will really miss him and the other commissioners. We have accomplished so much,” she said. “Every person on that commission loves the county and respects the county workers. I will miss the camaraderie. That is what I think I will miss the most.”
Hayes and her husband, Lloyd, a Navy veteran, have been married for 42 years.
They have a daughter, Danielle, and a son, Henry Lloyd. Their other daughter, Megan, who passed away three years ago, is forever in their hearts, Hayes said.
They have six grandchildren, ages, 21, 19, 17, 15, 13 and 11.
