Primary election June 7 – only Hopewell Borough Ds have a decision to make

There is only one contested race in the upcoming primary election and that is among three Democrats vying for two seats in Hopewell Borough.

The Mercer County Clerk’s office indicates the following local elections for the Hopewell Valley

HOPEWELL BOROUGH – COMMON COUNCIL                    (3 YEAR TERM – VOTE FOR TWO)

David MACKIE (D) – 91 W. Prospect St., Hopewell, NJ 08525 – dmackie@verizon.net

Christopher M. MALIKSCHMITT (BETTERING THE BOROUGH) 99 W. Broad St., Hopewell, NJ 08525 malikschmitt@yahoo.com

Krista WEAVER (D) -19 N. Greenwood Ave., Hopewell, NJ 08525 – kristaluckenbach@gmail.com

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP – COMMITTEE                    (3 YEAR TERM – VOTE FOR TWO)

Courtney PETERS-MANNING (D) – 7 East Acres Dr., Pennington, NJ 08534            cpmforhopewell@gmail.com

David CHAIT (D) 6 Hunters Ridge Dr., Pennington, NJ 08534            davidforhopewell@gmail.com

PENNINGTON BOROUGH – COMMON COUNCIL    (3 YEAR TERM – VOTE FOR TWO)

Charles “Chico” MARCIANTE (D) – 107 Voorhees Ave., Pennington, NJ 08534   chief51@aol.com

Katrina “Kati” ANGARONE (D) 12 Park Ave., Pennington, NJ 08534            kangarone@gmail.com

We were confused about who was running in Hopewell Borough because two candidates are noted as “Ds” and Chris Malikschmitt, who is the chair of the Valley’s Democratic Club, is not. We reached out to Sue Hansen, who is the Supervisor of the Election Department in the County Clerk’s Office. She explained that all three Hopewell Borough candidates are Democrats and all will be listed in Column A on the ballot. “David Mackie [the incumbent] got the [regular Democrat Organization] slogan, Christopher Malikschmitt had his own slogan (as certified by the Hopewell Borough clerk), and Krista Weaver had no slogan. The County chair decides who gets the Regular Democratic Organization slogan. She only gave it to Mackie”.

For the 12th Congressional District, Democrats’ only choice is incumbent Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman and Republicans’ only choice is Darius Mayfield.

For Mercer County Commissioner (formerly freeholder), the County Clerk’s website indicates there will be two spots open in the general election. The two Republicans on the primary ballot are Michael Chianese and Andrew Kotula. Democrats running are incumbent Commissioner Nina Melker and Cathleen Lewis.

Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami-Covello noted last week that Vote by Mail ballots had been sent out. She stated: “Look for yours in the mail!  If you are not on the permanent votebymail list, you will not receive a ballot unless you have applied for this election specifically.”

You also will see on your ballot, candidates for County Committee. The County Committee refers to either the Democratic or Republican political organization in Mercer County – there are usually two representatives to the County organization for each municipal voting district. The County Committee votes to endorse or not endorse people for elected office.

Generally, municipal endorsement decisions, and the reasons for them, are not publicly announced. Decisions made at County conventions are announced, however. The race for endorsement for County Commissioner at the Democratic convention in March was hotly contested with Melker and Lewis coming out on top. You can read more about it in the New Jersey Globe. Similarly, the Mercer County Republican organization chose their candidates for Commissioner, Chianese and Kotula.