Town Elections

Christian Muisener ‘23

On November 5th, 2019, Janice Fields (Republican) was voted to be on the Bernards Township Committee with a 51% majority, among many elections that happened in New Jersey. Janice Fields has lived in Bernards Township for 27 years, and she is a successful business owner along with her husband. Her reasons for running are to keep Bernards Township affordable and improve on the quality of life.The election for the Bernards Township Committee was very exciting.

The Democratic candidate was Sophia Chadda. Sophia Chadda is a periodontist of 16 years and has lived in Bernards Township for 20 years. In addition, she was a member of the Bernards Township Board of Health. Her reasons for running were to make the local government more inclusive, innovative and transparent. In almost every section of Basking Ridge, Janice Fields was more popular, winning at least 10% more votes than Chadda in each district. Only in Bernards D23, D15 and D2 did Chadda win, usually by slim margins. 

As for the Board of Education, Karen Gray obtained the plurality with 26.89%, Lauren Beckman won 23.22% of the vote, and Suzanne Schafer Skalski won 22.32%.  These elections, while not having massive implications on the country, were still very important to our municipality. The Bernards Township Committee has 5 members who vote on current town issues. The Board of Education is especially important for students because it affects the school administration. There were also many other elections that happened in the state of New Jersey on the same day.

Both of these elections should encourage students to think about their stances on current issues and how they will tackle these dilemmas when they are old enough to vote. Everyone needs to vote to make sure their voice is heard, in everything from school matters to world issues.  

 

[1] https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Somerset/98879/Web02.235350/#/cid/10