EAST BRUNSWICK–Assemblywoman and East Brunswick resident Nancy Pinkin has won 223,186 votes, making her Middlesex County’s newest clerk.
Republican and South Plainfield Councilman Joseph Wolak won 135,302 votes.
There were a total of 373 write-in votes and 358,861 total votes, according to the Middlesex County Clerk’s Office, which certified the election results on Nov. 20.
“I have served at the local level for nine years [and] I’ve been in the assembly for seven so I believe I have the track record for getting the job I have been assigned to do done. I think that voting is a very key part of our democracy, and there have been, before the election, a lot of issues and concerns about voting security so it’s something that I’ve always been passionate about and I’m looking forward to working on,” Pinkin said.
Wolack said Republicans have a difficult time gaining traction in the county.
“The election results were essentially as I had expected. It seems most people vote party lines and judging by the vote count, this year was another example. The people have voted and that’s the result, but it’s very difficult for the minority party to give a good challenge in Middlesex County,” Wolak said. “I believe its been over a decade or two since a Republican has won a seat in the county. I only wish people would stop to think how much better their lives have been since the last election and if their answer is ‘not much better’ than I would think it would be time for a challenger with new fresh ideas. How can our society have a paradigm shift if the same worn governmental philosophy is used and the same party is the majority for decades? I hope this can change in the future.”
Wolak said it was a good run, and thanks the more than 100,000 people who voted for him.
“I enjoyed the run, but it would have been an exciting thing for Middlesex County if I was able to come out the victor and install some of the new fresh ideas into running our government. Let’s hope this happens next year,” Wolak said.
Contact Vashti Harris at [email protected].