By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Tuesday is Primary Election Day.
This year, for the first time, it’s also the deadline for candidates to file for the Board of Education.
Since the primary election poses only a few choices for voters in both parties, the forming of the field for the school board may be just as interesting.
As of Tuesday, two people had filed for school. One is longtime member Ned Panfile, a Louis Street resident. The other is Sharon Liszczak, who lives on Rabens Avenue.
Mr. Panfile is one of three members whose terms were extended from April to the end of the year, and must run on the November ballot.
The other two members are Cathy Wiedwald and Andrew Zangara.
The school board decided in February to move school elections from April to the general election for the next four years.
As a result of the law, candidates must now submit their nominating petition to the county clerk, not the local school board office, by 4 p.m.
School board races will remain non-partisan, and candidates’ names will appear on a separate section of the ballot.
On Tuesday’s ballot, residents won’t see the name of two-term Republican Congressman Leonard Lance. That’s because Manville was moved out of Mr. Lance’s 7th District, and into the 12th District, where longtime Democratic Congressman Rush Holt is the incumbent. In the fall, he’ll likely face Eric Beck, a South Brunswick-based risk management consultant as the presumptive GOP nominee.
Democrats will choose one of two women to run as their candidate for state Assembly in the 16th District. Former Princeton Township Mayor Sue Nemeth and teacher Marie Corfield of Raritan Township want to run as the party’s nominee in the fall.
Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Manville has 1,344 registered Democrats, and 1,127 registered Republicans. Another 2,806 voters are unaffiliated and can go to the polls and choose to vote in the party of their choice. They would then be considered a member of that party.
There is no race in the primary for Borough Council, where each party offers two names for nomination. Councilwoman Sherri Lynn isn’t seeking a new term, opening up another shot for Susan Horensky-Star, who ran last year and lost. The other GOP candidate will be Councilman Richard Onderko.
For the Democrats, former Councilman Lou Fischer and Ronald Skirkanish are unopposed in the primary.
The state Assembly race will fill the remaining year of the seat left by the death of Assemblyman Peter Biondi, a former Hillsborough mayor, following last year’s election. Republicans filled the seat temporarily with Donna Simon of Readington Township, who is running for the GOP nomination Tuesday.
Ms. Corfield, an elementary school art teacher, ran unsuccessfully for Assembly last November.
Republicans will also select one from four candidates for U.S. Senate. State Sen. Joseph Kyrillos has the party machinery backing against three challengers, Joe “Rudy” Rullo, Bader Qarmout and David Douglas Brown. The winner will face incumbent Democrat Robert Menendez, who is unopposed in his party’s primary, in the fall.
Both parties will ratify their uncontested nominations for Somerset County freeholder and clerk. And both parties will have their say in the national race for their candidates for president. Republicans will choose from Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum, and also have to vote for delegates who will vote for them at the national convention in Tampa, Fla., in late August.
President Barack Obama has no challenge, but delegates to go to the convention will be on the ballot.
