Neary team sweeps in East Bruns.
Klemp, Pinkin fend off challenges from Republicans
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

FARRAH MAFFAI staff East Brunswick Councilman Don Klemp (l) and Mayor Bill Neary celebrate their re-election with Nancy Pinkin, who won her first term on the council Tuesday night.

East Brunswick Democrats held on to the mayor’s seat as well as two Township Council terms Tuesday.

Incumbent Mayor William Neary received 10,543 votes to outdistance his challenger, Republican Councilwoman Christi Calvano, who finished with 8,746 votes. Neary will begin his third four-year term, having served as mayor since 1997.

In the council race, Democrat and newcomer Nancy Pinkin garnered more votes than any of the four candidates, ending up with 9,977. Councilman Donald Klemp was re-elected to his third straight term, finishing with 9,814 votes.

Republicans Daniel Brown and Walter Decker finished with 8,756 and 8,252 votes, respectively.

“Well, I’m grateful that the residents of East Brunswick listened to our positive campaign,” Neary said. “Our ideas made the most amount of sense.

“I’m very happy about it. I’m very happy that Don and Nancy will be there to work with us,” he said.

Klemp and Pinkin will serve alongside fellow Democrats David Stahl and Catherine Diem. Calvano will remain the lone Republican on the five-member council. Democrat Edwin Brautman did not seek re-election.

Calvano said she is not sure what the future will hold or whether she would run for mayor again. Some had said during the campaign that her age, 29, would work against her.

“I just need to decompress from this race first,” she said.

She and Brown noted the large difference in funds available for the candidates. She also said she has heard that the presidential race plays a role in how people vote locally. Democrat John Kerry was favored among local voters for president.

“Obviously, I’m disappointed,” Brown said. “But I have no regrets. ... We ran a good campaign, a hard-working campaign.”

Republicans said they simply did not have the funds to place ads on television or send out multiple pieces of literature. They also noted that East Brunswick has more registered Democrats than Republicans.

“We were outnumbered by about 2 to 1, yet lost by about a thousand votes, so that says the message did get out there,” Brown said.

Klemp said he was pleased but not surprised the Democrats had won. He noted that when he ran in 1996 and 2000 the margins of victory were even larger.

“I believe [we won] because of our message,” Klemp said. “We had a positive message first of all, and we had a definite plan of what we wanted to do. I don’t think the Republicans had any kind of close alternative.”

Klemp said he had been optimistic going in.

“I believe the work we did on the council spoke for itself,” he said.

Neary said he feels the work he has done over the past eight years as mayor also played a large role in his re-election.

He pointed specifically to the purchase of the 147-acre Heavenly Farms tract on Cranbury Road for recreational and open space purposes, and the road project to improve the area around Route 18 and Tices Lane as some of the reasons why voters were compelled to elect him a third time. He also pointed to his record on municipal taxes.

He said it has been the “honest, strong government” provided by the Democrats that helped secure the win.

Pinkin said she was excited by the win. She said her aunt had served as a councilwoman, and that it felt natural to carry on the tradition.

“It was a goal I’ve always had,” she said. “I’m very honored to serve the people of the town.

“I put a lot of work into it and I put my best foot forward.”

Brown, who is also 29, said it is likely that he will run again sometime and that he will continue to attend council meetings.

Also in the election, voters overwhelmingly approved a Length of Service Awards Program (LOSAP) that will fund retirement accounts for qualifying members of the East Brunswick Rescue Squad. The public question received 8,910 affirmative votes and 3,200 “no” votes.

In all, 20,539 of East Brunswick’s 30,364 registered voters participated in the election. In the presidential race, township voters supported Kerry with 10,788, over Bush, who garnered 9,191 votes.