Konopka, Stanberry picked to run for mayor in Howell
Factor-Spano and
Schomaker will vie
for seat on council
HOWELL — Voters made their decision last week to give the town’s incumbent mayor the chance to win a second term and to send an incumbent councilman packing.
In a primary that saw a 13 percent turnout of registered party voters choosing between two slates of candidates in both the Republican and Democratic parties, Mayor Timothy J. Konopka, with 1,060 votes, won the right to run for his second four-year term.
Konopka, who has been Howell’s mayor since Jan. 1, 1997, overcame a challenge from Zoning Board of Adjustment Vice Chairman Stephen Meier, who received 545 votes in the June 6 primary.
Meier’s running mate, Councilman Barry Segal, who ran with Konopka in 1996, lost his bid to seek re-election, receiving 570 votes.
Konopka’s 2000 running mate, newcomer Dr. Mindy Factor-Spano, received 941 votes and will now be her party’s candidate for Segal’s four-year council seat.
Konopka and Factor-Spano will face Republicans Cynthia Schomaker, for council, and James Stanberry, for mayor, in November. Newcomers Schomaker and Stanberry ran with the backing of the Howell United Republican Club in the primary.
Stanberry, with 1,112 votes, and Schomaker, 1,089 votes, defeated Howell First Republican candidates John Budzash, for mayor, who polled 606 votes and Planning Board member Maria Portilla, for council, 568 votes.
Konopka told the News Transcript he was "extremely happy" with the results.
"Even without a specific mandate we received 66 percent of the vote," he said.
The mayor went on to say he wanted to send "many heartfelt thanks to the hundreds of supporters who walked neighborhoods, made phone calls and put up signs."
He predicted that support will end with a victory in November.
Factor-Spano also spoke of being very happy about the primary victory, but said the winning Democrats have a long way to go.
"While I’m glad we came this far, there’s still November," she said, adding that she believes Konopka is "a great mayor who I am looking forward to working with."
Schomaker, who will be Spano’s opponent for the one available council seat, said she was still numb but "not surprised I took 66 percent of the vote."
Stanberry also said he was not surprised by the results.
"I never had any doubt we would win and now it’s time to get down to work," he said.
Schomaker added, "We walked through neighborhoods knocking on doors and spoke to people from our heart and people listened."
Portilla, meanwhile, was candid about her disappointment and noted that the ballot position was a disadvantage.
Stanberry and Schomaker ran under the auspices of the county Republican Party and were placed on the straight-line Republican ballot while Portilla’s and Budzash’s Howell First Republicans are considered a breakaway faction and were placed separate from the rest of the Republicans on the ballot.
"A distorted campaign by our opponents and not having the [ballot] line really hurt us, but in the end the voters made their decision," Portilla said.
Portilla went on to observe, "It’s been left in God’s hands. I guess he wants me to uncover corruption as a citizen and not as an elected official."

