Democrats sweep local election

In the race for Mayor of Monroe Township and three council seats, the Democrats won all four

This past election was good for Monroe Township Democrats — Rich DiLucia won the mayoral election, and his team of council members Katherine Falcone, Patrick O’Reilly and Greg Wolfe also claimed victory.

DiLucia, the current council president, won the mayoral race with 7,208 votes over Republican competitor William M. Gilson, who received 5,765 votes, according to unofficial results released by the Gloucester County Board of Elections.

“This is the fourth election I’ve run in,” DiLucia said. “This is the first time I ran when the council at large ran. I actually enjoyed the experience, running with Katherine Falcone, Greg Wolfe and Pat O’Reilly. They kept me young, they made the time enjoyable. I think we put a good team together, I think we’ll do good things.”

Falcone, O’Reilly and Wolfe won the three open seats on council, receiving 7,291, 7,146 and 7,232 votes, respectively, according to unofficial results.

Wolfe, a retired Monroe Township police officer, is particularly excited about taking a spot on the council.

“I always wanted to run for political office; however could not, due to being a township employee,” he said. “Since my retirement, friends asked if I was interested in running for political office and encouraged me to get involved, so I jumped at the chance.”

Teamwork and chemistry were paramount in Wolfe’s eyes, stating, “Our team chemistry was instant as we all shared similar views, concerns and ideas. Over the last 10 months, our team ran a great, clean campaign with one objective: to make Monroe better!”

“I would like to thank everyone that supported us during this campaign and would ask that those that did not, to allow us to prove to them that we are truly here to make our community better,” Wolfe said.

Monroe Township’s Republican council candidates, Janet L. Schaefer, William V. Blong and Joseph J. Sheridan received 5,606, 5,450 and 5,444 votes, respectively.

“It was an honor and a privilege to have the people I ran with on the ticket with me. I want to thank everyone that supported us and helped us with the campaign,” Blong said. “I want to offer my sincere congratulations to Rich DiLucia, Katherine Falcone, Patrick O’Reilly and Greg Wolfe.”

When it comes to being mayor, DiLucia made it clear he will have an open door policy and is willing to work with everybody and anybody.

“One thing I want the residents to know, as a mayor, I will work with the council and anyone, that includes Republicans, that wants to be involved,” he said. “I have an open door. I won’t shut anybody out. If anybody wants to jump in and help, I don’t care what their registration is.”

In other elections:

Monroe Township mayor and council weren’t the only races on the Monroe Township ballot last week.

Three, three-year terms were up for grabs for the Monroe Township Board of Education; one incumbent and two newcomers won. Incumbent Anthony Ayres received 5,709 votes, while newcomers Barbara Chamberlain and Brian Cummiskey received 6,070 and 4,661 votes, respectively.

Incumbent James Henderson was not re-elected to the board of education, finishing in fourth place with 4,397 votes. Daniel R. Beaver finished fifth with 4,405 votes.

In the race for Gloucester County sheriff, incumbent Carmel Morina (D) won with 63,356 votes against Jonathan Sammons (R) with 46,186 votes.

In the race for Gloucester County surrogate, Joe Chila (D) won with 62,111 votes against George Shivery Jr. (R) with 46,592 votes.

In the race for two seats on the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders, incumbents Robert Damminger (D) and James Lavender (D) won with 62,839 and 60,273 votes, respectively, against Rose Yerka (R) and Diane King (R) with 46,791 and 47,748 votes, respectively.

In the race for the U.S. Representative for New Jersey’s 1st Congressional District, incumbent Donald Norcross (D) won with 41,314 votes against Paul Dilks (R) with 31,091 votes, Paul Hamlin (We Deserve Better) with 523 votes, Mohammed Kabir (Your Voice Heard) with 177 votes and Robert Shapiro (Libertarian Party) with 1,069 votes.

In the race for U.S. senator, incumbent Robert Menendez won with 1,509,835 votes statewide against Bob Hugin (R), who received 1,233,988 votes.