Republicans see big wins locally

Incumbents win in most towns; New Hanover challengers oust Democrats

By: Vanessa S. Holt
   Republicans took most local races on Tuesday, holding onto seats in most towns and defeating the incumbent Democrats in New Hanover.
   Countywide, a little more than half of registered voters turned out on Tuesday, with 129,461, or 52 percent, or the county’s 247,266 voters participating in the elections, according to the county Web site’s unofficial results, which do not include absentee ballots.
   County voters favored incumbent U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D) in the Senate race, casting 63,250 votes in the Democratic column and 56,065 for his challenger, Republican Tom Kean Jr.
   In the U.S. House of Representatives race in District 4, incumbent Republican Christopher Smith received 12,571 votes, and challenger Carol Gay, a Democrat, received 8,453 votes. In District 3, which also serves a portion of northern Burlington County, Republican Jim Saxton received 53,121 votes and challenger Rich Sexton, a Democrat, garnered 41,400.
   County voters favored the Democratic challenger George Kotch in the race for county surrogate, ousting incumbent Republican Vince Farias, who received 59,308 votes. Mr. Kotch scored 61,344 votes.
   Republicans retained their freeholder seats, however, with incumbents Bill Haines receiving 64,729 votes and Jim Wujcik scoring 62,097, while Democratic challengers Gail Cook garnered 56,968 votes and Sharon Atkinson collected 57,136 votes.
   Following is a breakdown of the results of local municipal races in Bordentown Township, Chesterfield, Fieldsboro, Mansfield, New Hanover, North Hanover and Springfield.
Bordentown

Township
   Republicans Mark Roselli and George Chidley defeated Democratic challenger James Cann for two three-year committee seats in a contest decided by 4,454 voters.
   Mr. Roselli and Mr. Chidley received 1,568 and 1,588 votes respectively, while Mr. Cann got 1,280 votes.
   Pauline Angelo, who had also been a Democratic winner in the primary, pulled out of the race before the general election.
Chesterfield
   A total of 1,202 voters went to the polls Tuesday, re-electing the incumbent Republican running for Township Committee.
   Michael Hlubik held onto his committee seat with 708 votes, while his Democratic challenger Robert Rupinski received 454 votes.
Fieldsboro
   In an uncontested pair of races for Borough Council, Democratic incumbents Timothy Tyler and Steven Kasafis received 127 and 110 votes, respectively, retaining their council seats for another three years.
   A total of 248 township voters participated in the election this year.
Mansfield
   With no Democrats running for two three-year Township Committee seats, Republican incumbent LaVerne Cholewa and Republican Robert Higgins won the seats with 1,790 and 1,805 votes, respectively.
   A total of 3,664 of the township’s voters participated in this year’s election.
New Hanover
   Republicans Rick Koshak and Dorothy Murphy defeated incumbent Democrats Sharon Atkinson and Mary Ann Russell in a narrow race. Mr. Koshak received 175 votes and Ms. Murphy received 169 votes. Ms. Atkinson received 143 votes and Ms. Russell received 128 votes.
   Although the race was close, there would not be a recount, said Township Clerk Elaine Kennedy, Wednesday.
   A total of 615 voters participated in the election.
North Hanover
   Incumbent Republicans William Tilton and Michael Moscatiello retained their committee seats for another three years, receiving 630 and 828 votes, respectively.
   Democratic challengers Albert Dempster and John Kocubinski received 527 and 558 votes, respectively.
   A total of 2,743 North Hanover residents came out to vote Tuesday.
Springfield
   Republican incumbents held onto their three-year seats on the Springfield Township Council in a close race against the Democratic "Unity Team."
   Denis McDaniel received 758 votes, Peter Sobotka received 764 votes and Richard Toone received 761 votes.
   On the Democratic side, JoAnn Bauma Banks received 680 votes, Greg Quagliato received 693 votes and Paul Tootell received 693 votes.
   A total of 4,332 voters came out Tuesday to participate in the election.