Princeton Democrats swept the partisan races in town, while the nonpartisan Board of Education election is still too close to call. With 100 percent of districts reporting and the last update being at 12:11 a.m. on Nov. 6, results are continuing to roll in for local Princeton elections.
The races for mayor and two town council seats were uncontested, as Mayor Mark Freda and Councilmember Leighton Newlin won re-election and Brian McDonald ’83 was elected to replace the retiring Councilmember Eve Niedergang GS ’85.
On the federal level, Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) won the open Senate seat in New Jersey, replacing former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). Additionally, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) was re-elected to her seat representing New Jersey’s 12th district, which includes Princeton.
The three Democrats running for the Mercer County Board of Commissioners, Samuel Frisby, Kristin L. McLaughlin, and Terrance Stokes, all won a seat on the Board.
As for Princeton’s Board of Education, Mara Franceschi holds a strong lead and The Daily Princetonian projects that she will retain her seat on the Board. The race for the second and third seat will be close, though, with Chris Santarpio, Ari Meisel, and Erica Snyder hovering within 300 votes of each other.
Mayor Freda reflected on the election season to the ‘Prince,’ saying, “There was a lot of energy, and a lot of people out doing a lot of work. I’m on the Democratic side, and our party in Princeton has been very, very engaged.”
Newlin, who was elected to his second term on the council, told the ‘Prince’ that he is “both honored and privileged to represent the 32,000 people here in Princeton.”
Newlin credits Niedergang for mentoring him on the council, and says he still has more to learn.
“I feel like I’m an upperclassman now, and I left the freshman class,” Newlin said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’ “I’m gonna try to keep getting my work done and keep getting better at making Princeton all it can be.”
McDonald, who was elected to his first term on the council, put his most important issues into four categories: delivering services while minimizing tax increases, managing a growing community, taking care of vulnerable communities, and sustainability.
“I’m very pleased that I get to continue my long track record of service to the town of Princeton in this role and look forward to the next three years working with the mayor and my council colleagues on a number of important issues that will require a lot of careful thought and consideration,” McDonald said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’
For Newlin, the most important issues were “affordable housing, affordable housing, and affordable housing.”
Freda echoed those concerns, saying, “We have a number of things that we will want to accomplish to help people in town. We want to try to address housing and several other issues. I’m looking forward to working with the other elected officials and just getting more done for the town.”
Though Democrats did well in partisan races in Princeton, the party struggled across New Jersey. Though the Associated Press has called New Jersey for Vice President Kamala Harris (D), it appears that she will win the state by a far narrower margin than President Joe Biden (D) did four years ago.
Charlie Roth is a senior News editor and assistant Data editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com
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