Franklin, Hardyston feature contested elections

FRANKLIN — Franklin is one of the few municipalities in the area with a contested election as three people are seeking two seats on the Borough Council.
Incumbent Joe Limon will face a challenge from Democrat Patricia Rowett. Also running is John E. Postas. The top-two vote-getters will gain the seats. Rowett was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Limon and Postas won the Republican primary in June over incumbent Richard Dabinett and challenger Stephen P. Zydon, Jr.
In Hardyston, Democrats James Corti, Jr., and Michele Van Allen will challenge Republican incumbent Leslie G. Hamilton and Brian J. Kaminski for two seats. On the Hardyston Township Board of Education, five people are seeking three seats. Incumbent Nicholas M. Demsak is facing challenges from Susan Lucarelli, Bethani Ficacci, Amie Ficacci and Carla Kubrin.
Statewide, voters will choose New Jersey’s next governor. Current Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno is the Republican party nominee and Phillip Murphy, a former U.S. ambassador to Germany, is the Democratic hopeful. Guadagno’s running mate for lieutenant governor is Carlos A. Rendo, the mayor of Woodcliff Lakes. Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver is Murphy’s running mate.
Candidates from We the People, the Green Party, Reduce Property Taxes, the Libertarian Party and the Constitution Party are also on the ballot.
Residents statewide will also be voting on two questions: whether to bond for $125 million for grants to improve public libraries; and, whether to amend the state Constitution to dedicate moneys collected by the state from environmental penalties and settlements to repairing damage to the environment.
Voters in the state’s 24th legislative district, which covers all of Sussex County and parts of Morris and Warren counties, will be choosing a state senator and two members of the Assembly. Republican incumbent, state Sen. Steven Oroho, who has served in upper chamber since 2007, is seeking re-election to the seat for a four-year term. He is opposed by Democrat Jennifer Hamilton, an attorney from Sparta.
Republican Assembly candidates for District 24 are incumbent Assemblyman Parker Space, a former mayor of Wantage who has served in the Assembly since 2013, and newcomer Harold Wirths, who served as NJ Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development until 2016 under Gov. Chris Christie.
Democratic Assembly candidates for District 24 are newcomers Kate Matteson, a paralegal with experience in executive search, and Gina Trish, a professor of Design and Art History at Centenary University.
One three-year seat on the Sussex County Board of Chosen Freeholders is being contested. Democrat Daniel Perez, an attorney and commissioner on the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority, is running against Republican Herbert Yardley, a former mayor of Stillwater and retired county health official.
The countywide question facing voters is whether the current purposes of the Farmland Preservation, Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund (acquisition of farmland preservation easements, and acquisition of lands for recreation and open space programs) will also include using the fund for stewardship projects and for the development and maintenance of permanently preserved open space.