Council seats are up for grabs in four of six local towns where incumbents are facing a challenge in the Nov. 6 election.
In Fair Haven, Republican Mayor Benjamin Lucarelli is running unopposed to fill the remaining two years of a term vacated when former Mayor Michael Halfacre was appointed director of the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
However, there is a four-way race for two Borough Council seats with incumbent Republican Councilmen Robert Marchese and Eric Jaeger pitted against Democratic challengers Dorothy Neceda and Susan O’Brien.
A contested race is also under way in Little Silver, where there is a three-way race for two Borough Council seats. Republican incumbent Councilman David Gilmour is seeking re-election, while Dr. Richard Scott, a Republican, and independent candidate and former Councilman Daniel Levine are seeking election to the open seat left vacant by the death of late Councilman Jon Bitman in September.
Donald Galante, a Republican, was appointed to complete the term vacated by Robert C. Neff Jr. when he won election as mayor in 2011, and is running unopposed to finish out that term through the end of 2013.
Democrats are also facing off against Republican incumbents in the boroughs of Shrewsbury and Rumson.
Incumbent Shrewsbury Borough Councilmen Jeff DeSalvo and Anthony Pellegrino, Republicans, hope to secure reelection and hold off a challenge for one of the terms from Democrat Donald Sena.
In Rumson, Democratic candidate Philip Wagner is challenging Borough Council incumbents Frank Shanley and Mark Rubin, both Republicans, for one of the two council seats up for election.
Familiar faces will remain on the borough councils in Oceanport and Sea Bright.
In Oceanport, incumbents William Johnson and Gerald Bertekap, both Republicans, are running uncontested for re-election to three-year terms.
Sea Bright incumbents, Republican Councilman William “Jack” Keeler and Democratic Councilman Marc Leckstein, are also running unopposed to retain their seats on the Borough Council. Leckstein, who was appointed to the Borough Council in February to fill an unexpired term, is running for a full three-year term.