Mahr, Britt File for Fanwood Mayoral Race

Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr and Fanwood Republican Committee Chairman Joe Britt filed petitions of nomination for mayor on Monday. Mahr, who is seeking her third four-year term, ran unopposed in 2007. Britt, who served as director of the New Jersey Division of Elections under Gov. Christie Whitman, previously ran for a seat on the Borough Council in 1990. 

The two candidates will each be joined by running mates seeking election to two open seats and three-year terms on the Fanwood Borough Council: incumbent Russell Huegel and Planning Board Chairman Kevin Boris for the Democrats, and Jason Benedict and Nicole Cole for the Republicans. Councilwoman Joan Wheeler, a Democrat, announced that she will not seek reelection.

Boris and Benedict last ran in the 2010 council election, which they lost to incumbents Katherine Mitchell, a Democrat, and Anthony Parenti, a Republican. Cole launched an unsuccessful bid for Union County Freeholder in 2009.

The press releases distributed by the Democratic and Republican committees Monday were enthusiastic.

"Mayor Colleen Mahr, Councilman Russell Heugel and Kevin Boris represent the absolute best that Fanwood has to offer," Democratic Committee vice chairman Jack Molenaar said in his committees' statement. "We are pleased that they have agreed to continue to serve our great community and know they will run a spirited, grass roots campaign."

For the Republicans, Britt wrote, “Jason and Nicole certainly have the talent to take on the tasks of the Borough Council. And just as important, they have the enthusiasm of newer residents who see the advantages in Fanwood and want to contribute to the Borough’s future development.”

Scotch Plains

The township's only election this year is for Union County Committees. Stay tuned for a list of the candidates, coming Tuesday afternoon.

State Legislature

State Senator Nicholas Scutari, D-Linden, and Plainfield resident Shannon Wright, a Republican, each filed to run for election to the State Senate to represent New Jersey's 22nd Legislative District, which includes Scotch Plains and Fanwood.

Meanwhile, State Assembly members Jerry Green, D-Plainfield, and Linda Stender, D-Fanwood and chairwoman of the borough's Democratic Committee, each filed to run for reelection to the Assembly. They will face Plainfield resident Joan Van Pelt and Middlesex resident Jeffrey D. First, both of whom filed for the Republican ticket.