Hopewell Valley voters largely stayed the course in Tuesday’s primary election, returning incumbent local officials to office while also selecting Democratic county committee members in the only contested local party races on the ballot.
In Hopewell Township, incumbent Democrats Kevin Kuchinski and Michael Ruger secured their party’s nominations for Township Committee, receiving 2,091 and 2,048 votes respectively in uncontested races. Republican John Hart Jr., a former Township Committee member and mayor, won his party’s nomination with 479 votes and will appear on the November ballot.
The race sets up a general election contest for two Township Committee seats currently held by Democrats.
In Pennington Borough, Democratic candidates Catherine “Kit” Chandler and John Valenza II won nominations for two Borough Council seats. Chandler received 501 votes while Valenza earned 458 votes. No Republican candidates filed for the seats.
Hopewell Borough voters selected Justine Levine and Sheri Hook as the Democratic nominees for two Common Council seats. Levine received 440 votes and Hook received 391 votes. No Republican candidates appeared on the ballot.
County Offices Largely Uncontested
Mercer County’s countywide races were largely uncontested.
Sheriff Jack Kemler won the Democratic nomination with 30,058 votes countywide, while Republican David Meiswinkle secured his party’s nomination with 5,531 votes.
Surrogate Diane Gerofsky won the Democratic nomination with 29,713 votes, while Republican Priscilla DeVine received 5,506 votes.
For two seats on the Mercer County Board of Commissioners, Democrats Nakia White Barr and Lucy Walter won nominations, receiving 20,100 and 19,124 votes respectively. John Cimino also appeared on the Democratic ballot and received 15,116 votes.
On the Republican side, Donald Ober and Shaolin Brown secured nominations for commissioner seats.
Hopewell Borough Voters Select County Committee Members
The only local races in the Hopewell Valley featuring more candidates than available positions were Hopewell Borough’s Democratic county committee elections.
County committee members serve as representatives within the Mercer County Democratic organization and participate in party activities, including leadership elections and endorsement processes. They also help organize local party activities and fill vacancies when they occur.
In Hopewell Borough District 1, voters elected Keith Hovey and Krista Weaver to two available seats. Hovey received 134 votes and Weaver received 132 votes. Councilwoman Sheri Hook received 115 votes.
In District 2, voters elected Katharine Elliott and Marian Labos. Elliott led the field with 164 votes, followed by Labos with 135 votes. Mayor Ryan Kennedy received 119 votes and Anthony Thomas Fuller received 108 votes.
Elsewhere in the Hopewell Valley, county committee races were uncontested or featured only enough candidates to fill the available positions.
Booker Advances to General Election
At the top of the ticket, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and received 31,185 votes in Mercer County.
Republicans selected Justin Murphy as their nominee for U.S. Senate, with Murphy receiving 2,604 votes in Mercer County and winning a four-way primary statewide.
For more on the 12th congressional district race read MercerMe’s coverage here.
The results remain unofficial until certified by Mercer County election officials.
