By Nick Norlen, Staff Writer
Princeton Borough Councilman Andrew Koontz earned the endorsement of the Princeton Community Democratic Organization in his bid for Mercer County freeholder on Saturday.
According to results posted on the PCDO Web site, Mr. Koontz, who is chairman of the Borough Municipal Democratic Committee, which is part of the PCDO, received 59 votes — well over the 60 percent required by the organization for an endorsement.
Sixty-seven PCDO members took part in the voting, with each member able to cast up to three votes.
Incumbent Lucy Walter finished second with 31 votes, followed by former Hamilton Township Councilman Dan Benson with 26, Trenton activist and entrepreneur Alysia Welch-Chester with 23, and incumbent Tony Mack with 19. Mercer County Central Labor Council President Mike Maloney and former Hamilton Township Council candidate John Cimino both finished with five votes.
PCDO President Jenny Crumiller said Mr. Koontz’s victory in the endorsement vote was “not unexpected.” She noted that the vote was essentially her organization’s “last involvement with the freeholder race.”
She added, “The next step is the convention on March 15.”
All seven candidates are seeking Mercer County’s Democratic Party nomination — to be decided at that convention — for the June primary.
However, the five challengers are also vying to fill the seat of former freeholder Elizabeth Muoio, who resigned March 1 to take a county planning job.
At the convention, elected county committee members will select one of the five newcomers to fill Ms. Muoio’s seat. That person will serve until the November election when the seat will be available in a special election.
Those not selected at the convention to fill the vacancy will vie with the incumbents for the other two preferred ballot positions in the June primary election. That decision will be made by a larger delegation — including elected committee members from around Mercer County, party members holding elected office and municipal chairpersons.
Mr. Koontz has said that, if elected, he would resign his post as a borough councilman, which he has held since he was appointed to the seat in 2004.
Staff Writer Greg Forester contributed to this story.
