DelCore Soundly Re-elected to Township Committee

Republican Frank DelCore sailed to re-election Tuesday, picking up 6,842 votes to Democratic challenger Art Skaar's 3,969.

"You do this stuff hoping the people are are happy with you," DelCore said. "It's very gratifying to get that kind of response from the public."

Skaar stepped into the election late, filling in the Democratic ticket after nominee William Kole withdrew his name from the ballot in September. Despite the loss, Skaar's Campaign Manager Christian Jensen said he believed Skaar did "everything he should have done."

"Having Chris Christie at the top of the ticket doesn't help a Democrat in Hillsborough," he added. 

The primary issue in the race for the Township Committee focused on the open space referendum, which was defeated by voters. During the campaign, Skaar positioned himself against the referendum—but didn't appear to pick up votes from the position.

"It was a specific thing that the majority had a specific opinion on," Republican Campaign Manager Steven Sireci said. "You accept it and move on."

DelCore did not specifically take a position on the referendum in the campaign, although it was supported by the Republican party. 

Voters also election three board of education members for the first time in a general election—incumbent board members Gregory Gillette and Thomas Kinst and newcomer Debashis Dutta were the only candidates for the three seats. Gillette collected 5,022 votes, with Dutta picking up 3,913 and Kinst receiving 3,790 votes.

Board member Jennifer Haley noted the sharp drop-off in vote tallies for the board seats, which are placed at the bottom of the ballots—and frequently missed by voters.

"I still think it was the right thing to do to move the election to November," she said. "In April, the turnout still didn't get the attention it should."