By Sean Ruppert, Staff Writer
The fate of candidates seeking elected office in Cranbury, Jamesburg and Monroe will be decided when residents go to the polls on Tuesday.
In Cranbury, voters will cast ballots on two, three-year Township Committee seats. Jamesburg residents vote on the four-year mayor’s seat and three, three-year seats on the Borough Council. In Monroe, a four-year mayor’s seat, and two four-year seats on Township Council are up for grabs.
All of the races feature Democratic incumbents defending their seats against Republican challengers.
Also on the ballot will be two seats in the state Assembly, and single seat in the state Senate, three country freeholder seats, and the office of sheriff.
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
In Cranbury Democratic incumbents David Stout and Richard Stannard are running against lone Republican challenger Art Hasselbach for two seats on the Township Committee.
In Jamesburg, incumbent Democrat Anthony LaMantia will compete with Republican Gregory Newton for mayor. Council Democrats Barbara Carpenter and John Longo will defend their seats against Republican husband-and-wife team Al Lupiano and Michelle Lupiano. In addition, Democrat incumbent Thomas Bodall Jr. will compete with Republican Maria Verticchio for the remaining year of an unexpired three-year seat.
In Monroe, Democratic incumbent Richard Pucci will vie with Republican Thomas Nothstein for another term as mayor. Democratic Council members Irwin Nalitt and Leslie Koppel-Egierd will defend their seats against Republicans Carlos Lopez and Irwin Nalitt.
The Senate seat in the 14th District — which includes South Brunswick, Cranbury, Jamesburg, and Monroe — is up for grabs between Republican Assemblyman Bill Baroni, of Hamilton, and Democrat Seema Singh, a South Brunswick resident and former state ratepayer advocate. The seat is a four-year term.
For the Assembly seats, Democratic Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, of Plainsboro, is seeking re-election. She and her running mate, Hamilton labor leader Wayne DeAngelo, are vying against two Republicans — Hamilton Councilman Tom Goodwin and Adam Bushman, of Jamesburg. Both seats are two-year terms. Libertarians Ray Cragle and Jason Scheurer, both of West Windsor, also are on the ballot.
The county freeholder race will feature Democratic incumbents Stephen “Pete” Dalina, Christopher Rafano and Blanquita Valenti running for three-year terms against Republican challengers Geoffrey Champion, John Rucki and Daniel Kerwin.
In addition, Sheriff Joseph Spicuzzo, a Democrat, is running for a new three-year term against Republican Robert Oras. Democratic county Surrogate Kevin Hoagland is seeking five more years, and is opposed by Republican Lynda Woods Cleary.
Voters will also have their say on four ballot questions. They will decide whether to approve borrowing $200 million for the Garden State Preservation Trust and $450 million for stem cell research.
They also will decide whether to permanently dedicate all of the recent 1 percent sales tax hike to property tax relief. Currently, half of the revenue from the increase goes to reduce property taxes.
If approved, the last ballot question would remove the term “idiot or insane person” from the part of the state constitution that restricts who can vote and replace it with less abrasive language.
Voters in Cranbury can vote in the lower level of town hall at 23-A North Main Street.
Jamesburg voters can vote at Borough Hall, 131 Perrineville Road.
The polling places in Monroe are:
• Ward 1, District 1: Encore Monroe, Brookside Drive;
• Ward 1, Districts 2, 3, 4, 5: Rosier Clubhouse, Rossmoor Drive;
• Ward 1, Districts 6, 7, 8, 9, 10: Clearbrook Cultural Center, Ardmore and Halsey roads;
• Ward 1, Districts 11, 12: Monroe Township Fire and EMS Facility, Center Drive;
• Ward 1, District 13: The Ponds Club, Waterside Boulevard;
• Ward 1, District 14; Ward 2, District 10: Applegarth Middle School, Applegarth Road;
• Ward 1, District 15: Monroe Village, David Brainerd Drive;
• Ward 2, District 1; Ward 3, Districts 4, 9: Woodland School, Harrison Avenue;
• Ward 2, District 2; Ward 3, Districts 6, 8: Brookside School, Buckelew Avenue;
• Ward 2, Districts 3, 9, 11, 12: Whittingham Towne Center, Whittingham Drive;
• Ward 2, District 4: Monroe Township Library, Municipal Plaza;
• Ward 2, Districts 5, 6, 7, 8: Concordia Clubhouse, Clubhouse Drive;
• Ward 3, Districts 1, 3: Monroe First Aid Building, Monmouth Road;
• Ward 3, Districts 2, 5, 7: Monroe Township Community Center, Monmouth Road;
• Ward 3, District 10: Regency Clubhouse, Country Club Drive.
