Copyright The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Nov. 4 election in Cherry Hill and the rest of New Jersey will leave a lasting impact on the direction the state heads when it comes to the economy, immigration, and sustainable energy. Voters will also choose Camden County lawmakers and local school district leaders. To make Election Day easier, whether voting at the polls or by mail, here are the important points for Cherry Hill voters to remember. Cherry Hill voters will decide on a slew of elected positions at the local, county, and statewide levels, including the hotly contested New Jersey governor’s race. In local politics, seats for the Cherry Hill Township Council, Cherry Hill school district’s Board of Education, and the Cherry Hill Fire Commissioners are up for election. The two state General Assembly seats for Cherry Hill’s district are also on the ballot. On the county level, positions on the ballot are the surrogate judge of Camden County and the Camden County Board of Commissioners, otherwise known as election officials. The Cherry Hill Township Council election will consist of four Democratic candidates running unopposed, three of whom are incumbents. Rob Connor joins the Democratic ticket as a lifelong Cherry Hill resident and a member of the Cherry Hill Zoning Board of Adjustment. Council members serve three-year terms. Find more information on the incumbent candidates on Cherry Hill Township’s staff directory page, at chnj.gov/Directory.aspx. Cherry Hill Democrats posted a biography of Rob Connor on their Facebook page. Voters can choose up to four candidates. Democrat Cherry Hill’s Board of Education creates and implements the district’s culture and educational policies, while also approving its annual budget and the hiring and evaluation of the district superintendent. Board members serve three-year terms. Learn more about each candidate on the Board of Education’s site at chclc.org/board-of-education/meet-the-candidates. Voters can select up to three candidates. Democrat As a public institution, the Cherry Hill Fire Department is overseen by a Board of Fire Commissioners, who secure the department’s funding, manage contracts, and ensure that the department’s property and equipment are up to the highest standards. Candidates will not appear as Democrat or Republican on the ballot. Board members serve three-year terms. Two candidates are running unopposed: The hotly contested and expensive governor’s race will come to a head when voters will decide whether Republican Jack Ciattarelli or Democrat Mikie Sherrill’s vision for New Jersey will prevail. New Jerseyans are facing increasing energy prices, driven by data centers and changing commuting habits. Home prices are rising, and the lack of federal support is putting projects like the Hudson Gateway tunnel in jeopardy. Along the Jersey Shore, flooding threatens beaches and the homes built on or near them. Immigration and how it is enforced, and sustainable energy, are also topics on which the candidates disagree. A whopping $200 million, the most in the state’s history, has been spent on this race, where Sherrill is hanging on to a single-digit lead over Ciattarelli, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll, with a gender divide among supporters. More women support Sherrill, and more men support Ciattarelli, a similar phenomenon to last year’s presidential election. Sherrill is a former naval aviator with nine years of active duty service after having graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. She would go on to work as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office before being elected as U.S. representative for New Jersey’s 11th District in 2018. That ended a 34-year reign of Republicans in that district. Sherrill has campaigned on promises to reevaluate the state’s spending through a new reporting system, go after corporations’ price gouging, ensure greater transparency in healthcare prices, and prioritize and expand clean energy, among other issues. Dale G. Caldwell is Sherrill’s running mate for lieutenant governor. Caldwell is the president of Centenary University, the first Black person to hold that position, and is a pastor at Covenant United Methodist Church in Plainfield, Union County. He has experience in the public and private sectors, overseeing charter schools, and managing nonprofits. Ciattarelli is a former New Jersey Assembly member and certified public accountant. This is Ciattarelli’s third time running for governor, after two unsuccessful campaigns in 2017 and 2021. While Ciattarelli has criticized President Donald Trump in the past, having called him a “charlatan” in 2015, Ciattarelli successfully campaigned for the president’s endorsement in this year’s election. Ciattarelli has run a campaign focused on reducing government spending, lowering property and corporate taxes, creating a new model for affordable housing, peeling back protections for immigrants, and moving away from the state’s sustainable energy efforts, among other issues. James Gannon is Ciattarelli’s running mate for lieutenant governor. Gannon is the sheriff of Morris County. Gannon worked for New Jersey police, fire, and ambulance services throughout the ’80s before becoming the deputy chief of investigations in the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office and then joining the FBI’s elite Joint Terrorism Task Force. Before he was elected sheriff, Gannon retired from head of global security at Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Information for the Libertarian candidate for governor, Vic Kaplan, and lieutenant governor, Bruno Pereira, can be found on their joint campaign website at vic4liberty.com. Socialist Workers Party candidates for governor, Joanne Kuniansky, and lieutenant governor, Craig Honts, do not operate a campaign website, but have been covered in local news. Democrat Republican Socialist Workers Party Libertarian The New Jersey General Assembly consists of the state’s lawmakers. Cherry Hill residents will be voting for two candidates to represent their district. Assembly members serve two-year terms. Both Democratic candidates, Louis D. Greenwald and Melinda Kane, are incumbents, with Greenwald having served as the Assembly’s majority leader since 2012. While the Democratic candidates don’t operate campaign websites, their legislative rosters are available online for both Greenwald and Kane. The two Republican candidates seeking to unseat them are Jack Brangan and Peter Sykes. More information on them can be found on their joint campaign website at votejackandpete.com. Brangan’s full name will appear on the ballot as John M. “Jack” Brangan. Voters can cast ballots for up to two candidates. Democrat Republican A county surrogate judge oversees the county’s uncontested probate and estate affairs when someone dies. They also serve as deputy clerk for the Superior Court’s probate division, which handles cases involving guardianship of adults with disabilities and adoptions in Family Court. Surrogate judges serve five-year terms. The Democratic candidate, Michelle Gentek-Mayer, has been the surrogate judge of Camden County since 2016. Information on the Republican candidate, Adam Nieves, can be found on the Camden County Republicans’ site at camdencountyrepublicans.com. Voters can vote for one candidate. Democrat Republican The County Board of Commissioners serves as the executive and legislative branch of county government, passing and enforcing laws, overseeing county agencies, and managing law enforcement, infrastructure, and economic development. Information on the Democratic candidates can be found on the Camden County Democrats’ site, at camdencountydemocrats.com. Find more information on the Republican candidates at the Camden County Republicans’ site, camdencountyrepublicans.com. Voters can select up to two candidates. Democrat
