2 Republicans Claim Nomination In Bernards Township Primary 2026: Unofficial Results

Updated as of 9 a.m. on Wednesday

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Two Republicans have appeared to have claimed the nomination in the 2026 Primary Election for the Bernards Township Committee.

According to unofficial results, Paul Humbert and Kirsten Light each earned the Republican nomination over Vanathi Raghupathy in the contested race on Tuesday night.

The Democratic race was uncontested in the primary, with incumbent Mayor Ana Duarte McCarthy running along with Joan M. Bannan for two spots.

Humbert and Light will now face McCarthy and Bannan in the November general election.

Here are the unofficial results for the Bernards Township Committee (*denotes incumbent).

According to Somerset County, 100 percent of the districts in Bernards Township have reported. However, these results remain unofficial until all mail-in and provisional ballots are counted.

Bernards Township Committee:

• Ana Duarte McCarthy* - Democrat - 1,832
• Joan M. Bannan - Democrat - 1,785
• Paul Humbert - Republican - 1,242
• Vanathi Raghupathy - Republican - 786
• Kirsten Light - Republican - 954

Somerset County Board of County Commissioners:

• Paul Drake - Democrat* - 21,384
• Elizabeth Graner - Democrat* - 24,048
• Dan Gallic - Republican - 9,265
• Rakesh "Rocky" Ganta - Republican - 7,431

The New Jersey general election is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

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