By Lea Kahn
The Lawrence Township Democratic Party has unveiled its slate of candidates for three Township Council seats, days before the April 11 deadline to file nominating petitions.
The names of the Republican Party nominees were not available as The Ledger went to press. The deadline to submit nominating petitions for the June 7 primary is Monday.
The three Democrats are running unopposed in the primaries on June 7, and will square off in the Nov. 8 general election. The term is for four years.
Incumbent Township Councilman Michael Powers and his Democratic Party running mates, Cathleen M. Lewis and David C. Maffei, will square off against three Republican Party nominees in the contest for three seats and political control of the five-member Township Council.
Township Council members Pam Mount and Bob Bostock, whose terms end Dec. 31, decided not to seek re-election. Ms. Mount is a Democrat and Mr. Bostock is the lone Republican on the five-member Township Council.
Mr. Powers, 43, is seeking his third term on Township Council. The Devon Avenue resident has served since 2004, including one-year stints as mayor in 2006 and 2010.
In addition to his service on Township Council, Mr. Powers has served on the Growth and Redevelopment Committee, the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Mr. Powers grew up in Lawrence and attended the Lawrence Township public schools. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Emory University and a law degree from the Catholic University of America.
The 35-year resident of Lawrence is a senior attorney in the Princeton office of Buchanan Ingersoll and Rooney, which has offices across the United States.
Mr. Powers said he is running again to take care of some unfinished business. He pointed to the need to move forward in redeveloping the southern end of the township, on Brunswick Pike between the Brunswick Circle and Whitehead Road, and to attract new businesses to the township.
”We have a great team,” Mr. Powers said of his running mates. “I think that Cathleen and David will bring a fresh perspective to the council and I look forward to running with them.”
Ms. Lewis, who is 32 and lives on Vanderveer Drive, serves on the Zoning Board of Adjustment. She has lived in Lawrence for seven years. She is the Lawrence Township Democratic Club president, and she is making her first bid for elective office.
Ms. Lewis is the director of public affairs and governmental relations for the AAA New Jersey Automobile Club. She previously worked as the senior public information officer and legislative liaison for the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.
Ms. Lewis received a degree in political science from Douglass College of Rutgers University.
”I’m excited to begin talking to residents about how we can move Lawrence Township forward,” Ms. Lewis said, adding that she can bring a “young perspective” to the council. Many young people have moved into Lawrence and while they are building families, they don’t often feel that they have a voice in municipal affairs, she said.
”In today’s fiscal environment, it is important that we take a good look at how we can do more with less and how we can find new ways to share services and reduce costs while maintaining the services and community that make Lawrence great,” she said.
Mr. Maffei, 63, is a retired chiropractor who lives on Lawrenceville Road. He is presently the vice chairman of the Planning Board, and also serves on the Growth and Redevelopment Committee.
Mr. Maffei earned degrees from Mercer County Community College and Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is a graduate of the New York Chiropractic College, and practiced in Lawrence from 1981 to 2005.
Mr. Maffei, who is a 51-year resident of the township, said that running for Township Council is a dream come true. He said he had always wanted to run for council ever since he was a child growing up in the township and now that he has retired, he has the time to devote to it.
Mr. Maffei pointed to his longstanding roots in the community, which he said has made him aware of the challenges that Lawrence Township faces. Among those challenges is retaining businesses and attracting new ones, he said. A handful of new businesses have opened their doors in the last few months, but many more have closed, he said, adding that “we have to reverse that trend.”
Moving the Route 1 redevelopment project along in southern Lawrence Township the area between the Brunswick Circle and Whitehead Road also is a priority, he said. It is a very important project and it will help to make that part of the township “distinctive,” he said. Plans call for installing a grassy median along Brunswick Pike, for example.
Sustainability also is “an important ingredient in the daily lives of our community,” Mr. Maffei said, adding that he majored in environmental science at Trenton Junior College the predecessor to Mercer County Community College.

