Incumbent Lawrence Township Councilmen Christopher Bobbitt and James Kownacki will return to the governing body for four-year terms following the Nov. 2 General Election.
The final vote tallies for Bobbitt and Kownacki, who ran unopposed, were 7,500 votes and 7,478 votes, respectively.
The vote tallies were certified by Mercer County officials and released Nov. 19. The tallies included early voting, Election Day voting, mail-in ballots and provisional ballots.
The Republican Party did not field candidates for the two open seats.
Bobbitt was running for his second, full four-year term. Bobbitt was appointed to fill a vacancy in 2015 and won a full term in 2017. He served as mayor in 2018 and 2019.
Bobbitt said he wants to focus on some unfinished goals that he would like to accomplish – from strengthening the local business community to supporting sustainability efforts at the municipal level.
The Lawrence Shopping Center is coming back to life, but other business districts – Main Street, Eldridge Park, the area around the Lawrence Library and a section of Brunswick Pike from Whitehead Road to the Trenton Farmers Market on Spruce Street – are just as valuable, Bobbitt said.
Bobbitt also pointed to the need to reduce greenhouse gases through more efficient energy use, and to use solar energy to generate more electricity. The township also needs to find better ways to handle stormwater runoff, since there was significant flooding in the wake of tropical storms Henri and Ida earlier this year.
Kownacki was seeking his fifth term on the Township Council. He served as mayor in 2012 and 2013, and again in 2020 and 2021.
On the issues facing Lawrence, Kownacki said property taxes as a whole are a concern for residents. When the municipal budget is presented to the Township Council, the council members examine it and work to keep municipal property taxes stable, he said.
