By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Incumbent Councilwoman Jenny Crumiller and former school board president Tim Quinn won the Democratic primary on Tuesday fending off two other challengers.
Ms. Crumiller received 2,711 votes and Mr. Quinn received 2,273. Leticia Fraga, a first-time candidate, was in third place with 2,215 votes, and Anne Neumann finished in fourth with 1,402.
Results are unofficial and do not include provisional ballots.
At a post-election gathering at Conte’s on Witherspoon Street, Ms. Crumiller said she looked forward to working with Mr. Quinn, while he thanked voters for the victory.
For her part, Ms. Fraga indicated that she would run for office again. “I’m not done,” she said after Ms. Crumiller and Mr. Quinn spoke.
Republicans did not field a slate of council candidates, but there were 13 write-in votes for council on the GOP side, according to a total on the Mercer County Clerk’s Office. It was not immediately known who received those votes.
In the other local race, Mayor Liz Lempert was unopposed in her primary. She will face Republican challenger Peter Marks, who also ran unopposed.
The council contest featured a core issue the candidates talked about a lot: the affordability of living in Princeton.
The race also featured Ms. Crumiller as the only incumbent in the contest, with Councilman Patrick Simon opting against running for re-election. That opened the door for at least one newcomer, if not two, to join the council since consolidation took effect in 2013.
Besides Ms. Crumiller, Mr. Quinn was the only other candidate to hold elected office. He served two terms on the Princeton school board. And while Ms. Neumann had run for council twice before, Ms. Fraga was running for office for the first time.
Ms. Fraga also was seeking to become the first Latina to hold political office in Princeton.
