EDISON – Four, four-year Township Council seats are up for grabs in the November election in Edison.
After a contentious primary on June 4, Democrats Joseph A. Coyle and Ajay Patil, both incumbents, and newcomers Richard Brescher and Joyce Ship-Freeman, will face Republican challengers Russell Azzarello, Cathleen Lynch Kilic, John J. Roche and Gerald T. Shine.
Coyle recorded the most votes with 5,584, Patil followed with 5,476 votes, Brescher received 5,399 votes, and Ship-Freeman collected 5,338 votes to win their bids to vie for the seats. They ran with the support of the Edison Democratic Organization, which they garnered during a nomination screening in March.
The team in a statement thanked the thousands of Edison residents who voted in the 2019 primary election.
“Together we hit the reset button by rejecting the politics of division,” the statement said. “Tonight was a mandate. A mandate for ‘No to Suez.’ A mandate to solve the overcrowding crisis affecting our schools. A mandate to hold top township officials accountable and to improve our quality of life. Let’s turn the page together as we build a stronger Edison.”
Michael R. Lombardi and Leonard D. Sendelsky, both incumbents, and newcomers Bhavini T. Shah and Nimisha Shukla, ran on the Edison Democrats 2019 slate. Lombardi recorded 2,638 votes, Shukla followed with 2,390 votes, Shah received 2,372 votes and Sendelsky registered 2,361 votes in their losing bids for the seats.
The election will be held on Nov. 5.