By Philip Sean Curran,Staff Writer
Democrat mayoral candidate Liz Lempert defeated her Republican challenger Richard Woodbridge in a landslide Tuesday to become the first ever mayor of the consolidated Princeton.¶
Princeton voters also elected all six Democrat council candidates, so Ms. Lempert will be lead a government controlled by one party next year. Voters also passed the local open space tax that creates a dedicated fund for buying and maintaining open space.
"Thank you Princeton," said Ms. Lempert in addressing supporters at her party’s headquarters on Nassau Street after garnering 6,093 votes to 3,938 for Mr. Woodbridge. ¶
Ms. Lempert said with the election over, now was the time to "come together." She promised to be the leader "for everybody" and to listen "to everybody." ¶
She offered kind words for Mr. Woodbridge and Republican council candidate Geoff Aton. She said the two ran for office because they cared for the community. ¶
At the Ivy Inn, Mr. Woodbridge addressed his supporters. ¶
"We gave it a good shot," he said. "There has not been a change politically in (Princeton) in 20 years. We ran against a presidential campaign. We ran as good a campaign as it is possible to run in this town. It’s the most wonderful campaign I’ve been in. We gave the town a choice." ¶
During the campaign, Mr. Woodbridge, an attorney, sought to cast himself as the more experienced of the two. He is a former Princeton Township mayor and former Borough Council president, having served on the governments of both municipalities. He also grew up in Princeton, a product of the public schools who graduated from Princeton University. ¶
Ms. Lempert, on the other hand, felt she had more current experience as member of Township Committee, where she serves as the deputy mayor. She touted her support for consolidation, zero-tax increase budgets and other work on the governing body.¶
Voting Tuesday occurred amid the backdrop of the national presidential race and the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Sen. Robert Menendez, the Democrat, and state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos, his Republican challenger. ¶
Residents, still recovering from the major storm Sandy found themselves for the most part going to different polling places. With some locations impacted, 14 out of 22 voting districts were relocated. ¶

