By Philip Sean Curran and Lea Kahn, Staff Writers
With the eyes of the nation on the presidential contest, Princeton’s Democratic Mayor Liz Lempert will face Republican challenger Peter Marks on Tuesday in one of six down-ballot races for local, county and federal offices.
In five other Princeton Packet-area towns, voters will go to the polls Tuesday to pick school board members in all five towns and members of the governing body in three of the five towns.
The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Princeton voters lean strongly Democratic, so Mayor Lempert is likely to win another four-year-term. In addition, Democrat Councilwoman Jenny Crumiller and her running mate, Timothy K. Quinn, are running unopposed for the two council seats, with the winners receiving three-year terms.
The race for Princeton school board is contested, however, with four candidates vying for three seats. Debbie Bronfeld, Greg Stankiewicz, Bill Hare and Alex Martin are running for three-year-terms with looming decisions about facilities, the leadership of the school district and contract talks with the teachers union in the next three years.
In Mercer County government, Democratic incumbent surrogate Diane Gerofsky will face Republican David Boyne for a five-year-term. Freeholder Andrew Koontz and running mate Anthony S. Verrelli are running against Republicans Andrew P. Curcio and Jason Lee DeFrancesco for two three-year-terms on the freeholder board.
In the other federal race on the ballot, incumbent Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12) will face Republican Steven J. Uccio for a two-year-term.
Voters also will decide to ballot questions on whether the state constitution should be amended to allow casino gaming to expand outside Atlantic City to north Jersey and whether all the revenue from the gas tax should be dedicated to the Transportation Trust Fund and used for no other purpose.
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Montgomery Township, Rocky Hill Borough and Plainsboro Township voters will pick candidates for the school board and the governing body. But West Windsor Township and Lawrence Township voters will only be choosing school board members.
All of the terms for the school board, Township Committee and Borough Council seats are for three years, except for one seat on the Lawrence school board that carries a one-year term.
In Montgomery Township, there is no contest for the three seats on the Montgomery Township Board of Education. Incumbent school board member Dharmesh Doshi is seeking re-election. Shreesh Tiwari, a former school board member, and Phyllis Bursh are also on the ballot.
But there is a three-way race for two seats on the Montgomery Township Committee that pits incumbent Township Committee members Patricia Graham and Ed Trzaska, both Republicans, against Patrick McKnight, who is running on the Libertarian ticket.
In Rocky Hill Borough, incumbent Councilman Philip Kartsonis is seeking re-election. He is the only candidate running for two seats on the Borough Council. He is running on the Rocky Hill United ticket. Neither the Democrat or Republican parties nominated candidates.
Plainsboro Township voters are being asked to select one candidate from among a field of four to represent the township on the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional Board of Education and to choose two candidates for Plainsboro Township Committee.
Incumbent school board member Taylor Zhong is vying to keep his seat, representing Plainsboro Township on the school board. But he is being challenged by Shrenik Dagli, former school board member Todd Hochman and Russel Melville.
Plainsboro Township Committee members David Bander and Edmund Yates, both Democrats, are running unopposed.
In West Windsor Township, voters are being asked to pick from among six candidates for three seats to represent the township on the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional Board of Education.
Incumbent school board members Louisa Ho and Scott Powell are seeking re-election. They are being challenged by Carol Herts, former school board member Richard Kaye, Deborah Marinsky and Mirna White.
And in Lawrence Township, voters will choose from among six candidates for three seats on the Lawrence Township Board of Education that carry a three-year term, plus one candidate who is running unopposed to fill out an unexpired one-year term.
Incumbent school board member Pepper Evans is vying for re-election. She is being challenged by former school board member Glenn Collins, former Lawrence High School principal Jonathan Dauber, Colette M. Dickinson, Michelle King and former school board member Michael J. Wilson.
Incumbent school board member Michele Bowes, who was appointed to fill a vacancy, is seeking election to a one-year unexpired term. She is running unopposed.
