EATONTOWN – Two Democrats and two Republicans are seeking their first three-year terms on the Eatontown Borough Council. The four candidates are running unopposed in the June 8 primary election.
The terms currently held by Republican Joseph Olsavsky and Democrat Jasmine Story will be on the ballot in the Nov. 2 general election. Neither incumbent council member is seeking re-election and their terms will end on Dec. 31.
Seeking the available terms, according to information provided by the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office, are Democrats Coleen Burnett and Mariel Hufnagel, and Republicans David Gindi and Everett Lucas.
Hufnagel ran in the 2020 Borough Council election and lost her bid for a seat on the governing body by a narrow margin.
Burnett, Gindi and Lucas are making their first bids for seats on the Eatontown council.
The two candidates who are elected in November will serve terms that will run from Jan. 1, 2022 through Dec. 31, 2024.
Any Eatontown resident who wants to run for Borough Council as an independent candidate has until June 8 to file a nominating petition and secure a place on the November general election ballot.
Republicans took a 5-1 majority control of the previously all-Democratic council in January 2020 after a series of resignations by Democratic council members led to Republicans winning five available seats in the 2019 municipal election.
In the 2020 municipal election, Democrats picked up a seat and for 2021 the Republican majority on the council became 4-2.
A victory for Democrats Burnett and Hufnagel in November will create a 3-3 split on the council in 2022.
A victory for Republicans Gindi and Lucas in November will give the GOP a 5-1 majority on the council in 2022.
The mayor’s office is held by independent Anthony Talerico.
