By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Democrat Matthew Scott defeated Republican Nancy Witt on Tuesday to win a seat on the Township Committee.
He won with 688 votes to 622 for her, according to totals from the Middlesex County Clerk’s office. He will replace Deputy Mayor Susan Goetz, who is retiring from the governing body. His victory means Democrats will continue to hold a 4-1 majority.
“I’m thrilled, very excited,” he said, by phone Wednesday, about winning.
In explaining his victory, he attributed it to “energy and shoe leather.” He said that during the campaign, a lot of Republican voters told him that they would be voting Democrat for the first time “because they liked what I had to say, they liked some of the plans I have for the town.”
For her part, Witt on Wednesday congratulated Scott on his victory.
“He’s got an exciting opportunity to serve a wonderful community,” she said, “and I wish him well.”
The race was a contest between candidates seeking public office for the first time.
Witt called running for Township Committee a “wonderful opportunity for me to grow, to learn about my community, to get more invested in it (and) work with some wonderful people.”
In looking ahead to his work on the governing body, Scott touched on improving downtown infrastructure and ensuring the new library comes to “fruition as soon as possible.”
“It’s just important for Cranbury not only as a community space,” he said, “but also as an economic engine to help the businesses downtown and to … revitalize the downtown, to make it a destination for people in the towns around us to come and eat and drink and be seen and see other people.”
