Chad Goerner, the Democratic party pick for the lone open seat on Princeton Township Committee, handily defeated challenger Scott Carver in Tuesday night's primary election to effectively secure a seat on the governing body come the general election in November.
With all districts reporting, unofficial results assured Mr. Goerner a victory as he secured nearly 70 percent of the vote. Of 886 votes cast, Mr. Goerner had 620, with Mr. Carver taking 266.
In the general election, Mr. Goerner will likely have no Republican challengers. As of press time, no write-in candidate received the necessary 22 votes to appear on the November ballot.
Mr. Goerner's election also indicates a victory for the Princeton Township Democratic party, who had selected the 30-year-old Bayard Lane resident as the candidate to fill the seat vacated when Committeeman Bill Hearon's term expires December 31. While there is speculation that Mr. Hearon could resign prior to that date, nothing has been confirmed. If Mr. Hearon were to vacate his office, Mr. Goerner could be appointed to fill his vacant seat until a proper term is assured.
Of his election, Mr. Goerner credited Township voters and Mr. Carver with creating a dialogue to air municipal issues like property tax and oversized developments — the so called McMansion epidemic. "Voters are concerned about a lot of things in Princeton Township, and they want to have more community involvement, and think that's what resonated in my campaign.
Mr Goerner also praised Mr. Carver for a clean campaign; "We both had a very positive campaign. But even more importantly, we focused on open discussion.
"We really worked hard on this," he added.
In the Borough, incumbent Democratic Council members Peggy Karcher, Barbara Trelstad, and Wendy Benchley all easily secured primary wins. All ran unopposed.