2013 Elections: Democratic Council Incumbents Sweep; LaCorte, Danielson, Presley Win School Board Seats

Board member Arline falls short in county sheriff race

Township Democrats keep their own tally during election night.

Township voters returned to power Nov. 5 the five Democratic Township Council incumbents as well as current Board of Education president Julia Presley.

Also elected to the school board were former board member Nancy LaCorte and newcomer Christine Danielson.

Councilman Theodore Chase, (Ward 1), said after the votes were tallied that he was somewhat concerned that he might not get re-elected.

“I was worried because I did not win my own district,” he said. Chase chalked that up to voter anger over a proposed – and now postponed – plan by the New Jersey Water Supply Authority to dredge a portion of the Delaware & Raritan Canal.

But Chase pulled out a victory over his Republican opponent, George Albert, by a count of 1,608 to 1,045.

In Ward 2, incumbent Councilwoman Roz Sherman bested her Republican opponent, Ed Trainor, by a vote of 2,305 to 1,708. Sherman, the current Deputy Mayor, said she was “very grateful to my constituents for supporting me. I continue to be very committed to making Ward 2 the best in Franklin Township.”

Ward 3 saw a match-up between incumbent Democratic Councilman Phil Kramer and former Councilman Anthony Mazzola. Kramer won that match by a vote of 1,694 to 796.

“I’m grateful that the voters appreciated that in these hard time we made some hard choices, yet provided great services,” Kramer said.

In Ward 4, incumbent Democratic Councilman Carl R. A. Wright won re-election over his opponent, Republican Michael Rothberg, by a vote of 1,742 to 610.

“I’d like to say thank-you to all the residents for electing me once again,” Wright said. “I promise to do a better job than I did the last four years.”

Ward 5’s match-up was between Democratic incumbent James Vassanella and his Republican opponent, Raleigh Steinhauer. Vassanella won that contest by a vote of 1,509 to 800.

School board member Julia Presley won re-election Nov. 5.

In the school board race, embattled board president Julia Presley won re-election to her second term on the board.

Also winning seats were Nancy LaCorte, a former board member, and newcomer Christine Danielson.

Presley has been enmeshed in a nasty fight with several other board members, schools Superintendent Edward Seto and a former elementary school principal over ethics complaints filed against her by them with the sate Department of Education’s School Ethics Commission.

The commission last week voted to send eight of those complaints on for adjudication by an Administrative Law judge.

“This is a good day for the children of Franklin Township,” Presley said after the votes were tallied. “I will continue to put them first.”

The campaign, she said, “worked me. It was challenging, in many ways and for many reasons.”

LaCorte was the top vote-getter in the field with 4,838 votes. She was followed by Danielson, with 4,702, Presley with 4,305 and board member Robert Seamon, with 3,730.

Seamon, Danielson and LaCorte ran as a slate.

In a county wide race, school board member Richard Arline, a Democrat, came up short in his bid to unseat incumbent Somerset County Sheriff Frank Provenzano, R.

Although he lost overall, Arline did carry his home town, garnering 8,393 votes to Provenzano’s 5,452.

Full results can be found on the township’s Web site.

(Editor’s Note: Tallies do not include mail-in votes or provisional ballots.)

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