Candidates have done their best (or worst) to impress voters and the primary is now just a day away. Plaintalker does not make endorsements, but on the local level fellow blogger Dr. Yood has made his choices known and Dan Damon has links to all the endorsements on his CLIPS blog. As many have noted, the Democratic June primary in Plainfield pretty much settles the November election as well, though surprises are possible.
In case you just got in from Fiji or the Lesser Antilles, the two local races are for the citywide at-large seat and the Third Ward on the City Council. Vying for the citywide at-large seat are Veronica "Roni" Taylor and the Rev. Tracey Brown. In the Third Ward, incumbent and current Council President Adrian Mapp hopes to best challenger Rasheed Abdul-Haqq.
Of course President Barack Obama is at the top of the ticket and it is almost an obligation for Democrats to show support for him. The new name on the ballot is Rep. Rush Holt, who inherited Plainfield as a constituency in redistricting after the 2010 Census. The city is now in District 12, which also includes Princeton and Trenton. At a February event here, Holt pledged to learn more about the city and its needs. If elected, he will be serving Plainfield as of Jan. 1, 2013.
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 5. Please take the time to vote.
Tuesday is now also the day for school board candidates to file for election in November. The City Council voted to move the election to November over the objections of current school board members. The district web site has made no mention of the change. Petitions must be filed by 4 p.m. Tuesday in the County Clerk's office in Elizabeth. There are three three-year seats and one one-year unexpired term up for election this year.
Independents may also file for the City Council seats on Tuesday. If any do so, they will be on the November ballot with the winners of the Democratic primaries and with two Republicans who have filed. The Republicans are Randy Bullock for the Third Ward and Bill Amirault for the citywide at-large seat.
Please vote on Tuesday. Voting is a precious, hard-won right. And if you want to help others learn about their rights as voters, consider joining the Plainfield League of Women Voters. The group will be conducting voter education in October. More later on that topic.
--Bernice
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Bernice, I will need to do a refined search, but I think congress is sworn in on the third of January every two years, with the President a few weeks later. This is as not everyone is in DC on the holiday and the Congress/President do not make switches on the same day in case of a national emergency, one or the other would be legally in place. Plainfield's terms of course end at 12/31/XX at 11:59 PM. For the few hours till the swearing in we operate on auto pilot.
ReplyDeleteJan. 3 is correct! I'm so hyperlocal. In Plainfield the clerk used to swear in new council members at midnight and then they would have the ceremonies later at the reorganization.
DeleteWith our current Mayor, the city is always on autopilot. On a crash course though
ReplyDelete