By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
In 2014, Princeton Democrats staged a bruising primary campaign for council in a race where the tactics used are largely seen as influencing how the candidates in this year’s contest behave in the polar opposite.
Jenny Crumiller, Leticia Fraga, Anne Neumann and Tim Quinn have avoided running as a slate or even be seen remotely supporting one of the other candidates in the slightest way, a conscious decision that each has made. It is a strategy that runs counter to the way the 2014 race shaped up.
They have not formed a ticket the way Councilman Bernard P. Miller and former Township Committeewoman Sue Nemeth did when they ran against Councilwoman Jo S. Butler. In some quarters of the party, that step was seen as ganging up on Ms. Butler, who ran alone in a two-against-one contest.
Ms. Fraga said Wednesday that Democrats she had spoken with expressed displeasure with what happened in 2014. “They didn’t approve of the way it was done,” said Ms. Fraga, who supported Ms. Butler in that race.
“There was tremendous backlash,” said Ms. Butler by phone Wednesday in recalling the contest that she won by six votes against Ms. Nemeth. “In a small town, it’s bruising, the divisions that can be caused by these elections.”
Ms. Butler believes there is a hangover effect from two years ago on this race, although she said there is political calculation involved in the candidates staying neutral toward one another.
“People don’t want to inflame the supporters of other candidates,” she said.
Ms. Crumiller offered a similar answer in saying Wednesday she did not want to “alienate people.” She said she believes the 2014 race has left an after-effect on this year.
For his part, Princeton Democratic chairman Peter Wolanin said Wednesday that he thought slates in primaries are “bad for voters.” He said he would rather see candidates run on their own merits, so voters can make an informed choice.
“I’m looking forward to working with any one of the other three candidates that get elected with me to council,” Ms. Neumann said by phone Wednesday.
Mr. Quinn said Wednesday that his strategy is to follow what he did as a candidate for Princeton school board, when he ran on his own. He said he has not sought the endorsement of any of the council members.
For her part, Ms. Butler said she is supporting Ms. Crumiller, but she won’t say whom else she is backing. She signed Ms. Fraga’s nominating petition to be placed on the ballot but urged against reading too much into that.
“I signed her petition,” she said earlier in the week. “It’s all it means.”
Democrats won’t choose candidates until the June 7 primary. Mr. Wolanin said there is “reasonably high” interest within the party about the contest, although it is not nearly as much as in 2014.
“Two years ago, people’s passions were fairly inflamed,” he said.
He said that as the primary gets closer, people will get more engaged in the race.
To the extent officials are politicking behind the scenes, Ms. Fraga said that she had received encouragement from “several” sitting council members to run for office and that some have said they are supporting her. She won’t name names, but she said she would “love” a public endorsement.
Aside from Ms. Butler, the other sitting council members and Mayor Lempert have expressed a public neutrality in the race. Mayor Lempert has repeated that she is staying out of the council contest to focus on her re-election campaign, even though two years ago she publicly endorsed the Miller-Nemeth ticket. Ms. Fraga had been, for a short time, the head of Mayor Lempert’s re-election campaign until she decided to enter the council race.
Mayor Lempert did not return a phone call seeking comment.
When it comes time for the general election in November, the two winners of the primary will be on the same ticket, although by then it won’t matter. The Princeton Republican Party is not running council candidates this year, so that means the primary will decide who sits on the council starting in January.
