Bratti, Strauss Won't Seek Re-election Along Party Lines

Two Scotch Plains council members may seek to win their seats back as independents this November.

Dominick Bratti, who ran as a Republican last November, and Jeffrey Strauss, who last ran as a Democrat, both will not appear on their parties' tickets this election year. Bratti's bid to be on the Republican ticket was narrowly defeated in a vote by his party members. Strauss personally made the decision not to align with the Democrats.

Council candidates running on a party ticket submitted their petitions to the town clerks by 4 p.m. Monday. In Scotch Plains, the Democratic ticket consists of incumbent Kevin Glover, Neal LeStrange and Mickey Marcus. Republican candidates include William "Bo" Vastine, Sal Trifiro and Tony Patti. 

In a conversation with Patch on Tuesday, Bratti said that while he's disappointed his party decided not to support him as a candidate, he's strived all along to make decisions that are best for the township, not just for the Republicans.

"I don't really like politics," Bratti said. "I like it less now. But I do like the work of politics. I like being on the council. I like addressing the issues. Almost everyone on the council disagrees at some point. Sometimes I disagree with Jeff (Strauss), sometimes Mary (DePaola), sometimes Kevin (Glover), but at the end of the process, majority rules and we get things done and we don't really take it personally for the most part. We're operating very well."

The councilman cites his success in last November's election as proof that the residents of Scotch Plains are happy with his performance on council and with their efforts to address the issues, without regard to partisan politics. While "disappointed that a small subset of the local Republican Committee is trying to override the mandate that we continue this work," Bratti said he is "confident that the residents of Scotch Plains will be able to see that I am still the best qualified person for the job, even if my political label changes."

Bratti joined the council in 2009 to fill the seat of Nancy Malool, who vacated the position after being elected mayor. Last November, Bratti defended his spot on the council in a race against Democrat Theresa Mullen, and ultimately won with roughly 600 more votes.

Some members of the Scotch Plains Republican Party have taken issue this year with certain council decisions. One such issue was the council's move to replace township attorney Brian Levine with Jeffrey Lehrer. Mayor Nancy Malool said at the time that the decision was a "simple council appointment that turned into much more."

"Unfortunately it was a political issue, and I wish it hadn't been," she said. "We're starting fresh. We've got a new manager, a new council. I wanted someone who didn't have any ties to anyone."

At Levine's last council meeting, a who's who of Scotch Plains Republicans, including former Council members Paulette Coronato, Bill McClintock and Joan Papen and former Mayor Martin Marks, came out to express their support for Levine and his service to the township.

Also this year, some members of the party disagreed with the council's recent decisions in regards to the Scotch Plains Management Corporation.

The local Republicans hosted their party convention on March 24, at which time 43 members voted on who would appear on the ticket this year. Committee Chair Bill McClintock told Patch that Bratti was defeated by just two votes.

"There are a lot of reasons that it happened," McClintock said. "I don't know that I want to get into many of them. But, we had a vote and it was close."

Bratti says that he's still debating whether he will file as an independent by the June 8 primary, but that he is leaning toward the move.

Councilman Strauss has taken a similar position.

Strauss told Patch on Tuesday that he is "strongly considering" filing as an independent. Unlike Bratti, Strauss was not defeated by his party for the nomination. Rather, the councilman said he decided that he didn't want to align himself with the local Democrats this election due to differences in strategy.

Strauss did speak to both the Democrats and the Republicans about a potential run on either ticket, but ultimately decided that it was best to go at it on his own.

"I'd like to think (the voters) will judge me on the record and not on the partisanship," he said. "I think most people feel that way locally. It's more polarized at a different level, but locally, given the tough times, I'd like to think people are not thinking about labels. The truth is what matters on the council, not what party you are from."

Like Bratti, Strauss acknowledged that running as an independent won't be easy. The two councilmen both said they realize fundraising will be more difficult and that it always helps to have a group of people behind you in your efforts. Strauss said ideally he'd like to run as a ticket, not alone. He said it's unlikely that he and Bratti will join forces to do so.

Strauss said that regardless of his decision to not run with the Democrats, he has a lot of respect for Scotch Plains Democratic Chair Louis Beckerman. In a statement to Patch, Beckerman had the same to say about the councilman.

"I have a lot of respect for Mr. Strauss," he said. "But for some personal reason, he did not seek a place on our ticket. We wish him the best of luck regardless of the direction he takes."