Fran Bartlett, in her first bid for local elective office, defeated incumbent Republican John Hart 2,380 to 2,158 in special election Tuesday
By: John Tredrea
Democrat Francesca Bartlett has been elected to the Hopewell Township Committee.
Ms. Bartlett, in her first bid for local elective office, defeated incumbent Republican John Hart 2,380 to 2,158 in a court-ordered special election Tuesday.
"I’m absolutely pleased the election is finally over, and that the people of Hopewell Township understood the issues well enough to vote for me," Ms. Bartlett said Wednesday morning. "I’ll be independent … I won’t be a yes person … I’ll make decisions based on facts. I think we’re all relieved the election is behind us, so that we can really get on with the business of running Hopewell Township."
The tally includes 122 absentee ballots for Ms. Bartlett and 101 for Mr. Hart, Township Clerk Annette Bielawski said.
Nearly 44 percent of the township’s 10,386 registered voters went to the polls this week. In November, 72 percent of registered voters cast ballots.
Ms. Bartlett’s win makes the Township Committee all Democratic.
Three years ago, it was all-Republican and had been since the mid-1970s, when for a brief period, there were three Democrats on the governing body.
The race was close in five of the township’s eight election districts. Ms. Bartlett ran far ahead in District 1, which includes the large Brandon Farms development in the southeastern township. She prevailed over Mr. Hart there, 573-313.
She came out on top in three other districts as well, including District 8, which votes at the Hopewell Valley Regional School District’s administrative headquarters, in southern Pennington. She won there 379-272, her best showing other than District 1.
Mr. Hart’s best showing was in District 4, which votes at Timberlane Middle School. He prevailed there 346-210.
Tuesday’s denouement marks the end of a long and winding road for the two candidates. Their quest for a seat on township government has been contested in court repeatedly since November, when they squared off in the general election. The upshot of those court hearings was a special election, scheduled March 6 by state Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg. That election was called off because of reports of a blizzard that never materialized and rescheduled for Tuesday.
Mr. Hart served two three-year terms on the Township Committee, including two years as mayor, before being ousted by Ms. Bartlett in what may well have been one of the longest-running municipal elections in the history of the state.
"I’m disappointed. Brandon Farms is obviously my weak point," Mr. Hart said Tuesday night after the final tally of votes. "When you have all four members of the Township Committee campaigning against you, it’s an uphill battle."
A farmer whose land is off Titus Mill Road in the central section of the township, Mr. Hart concluded: "What really bothers me about this, though, is that now there’ll be no farmer on the Township Committee for the first time in its history. Twenty years ago, they were all farmers."
Residents of township voting districts 2 and 3 cast ballots in Union Fire House, on state Route 29 in Titusville. Mr. Hart carried both by narrow margins. He won District 2, 189-182, and District 3, 183-161.
Like District 8, District 5 votes at the school district’s administrative headquarters. Mr. Hart won in District 5 by a 224-175 count. He lost by one vote, 287-286, in District 7, which votes at the township’s municipal services building, at Pennington-Washington Crossing and Scotch roads. He lost, 291-244, in District 6, which votes at Hopewell Elementary School.