Slate Leads Edison BOE Race, But Margins Razor-Thin

EDISON, NJ — One slate leads all three open seats on the Edison Board of Education, but unofficial results show one of the closest school board races in the township in recent years.

As of 12 p.m. Wednesday, the Moving Edison Forward slate of Anjana R. Patel, Wen Huang and David T. Suchocki Sr. held the top three spots, according to the Middlesex County Clerk’s Office.

Suchocki led Chang-Hui Shen of the Responsible Accountable Leadership slate by 73 votes for the third seat.

Here are the unofficial results:

• Anjana R. Patel: 11,852 (17.44%)

• Wen Huang: 11,641 (17.13%)

• David T. Suchocki Sr.: 11,227 (16.52%)

• Chang-Hui Shen: 11,154 (16.41%)

• Niket Mull: 10,947 (16.10%)

• Bijal Parikh: 10,879 (16.00%)

• Write-ins: 275 (0.40%)

Six candidates ran for three three-year seats as two slates. Responsible Accountable Leadership ran Mull, Parikh and Shen.

A near-even split

Only 973 votes separate first place from sixth. Combined, the Moving Edison Forward candidates received 34,720 votes, or about 51 percent of the total. The Responsible Accountable Leadership candidates received 32,980, or about 49 percent.

The race for fifth was just as tight. Mull finished 68 votes ahead of Parikh.

The board race drew 67,975 candidate votes. Because voters can pick up to three candidates, candidate votes add up to more than the number of voters.

Patel was the only incumbent on the ballot and would begin her second term. Board members Virginia White and Christopher Lugo did not seek re-election.

Huang is an actuary at a Fortune 500 company, and Suchocki is a former board member who works in automotive financing and health club management.

The race drew legal attention in August. Suchocki challenged the nominating petitions of Parikh, a candidate on the opposing slate. A Superior Court judge rejected the challenge in August and ruled that Parikh had one more valid signature than the 25 required, according to the New Jersey Globe.

Parikh also ran for the board three years ago.

The Middlesex County Clerk’s Office is still counting mail-in and provisional ballots. Results remain unofficial until the county certifies them later this month.

New board members will be sworn in at the board’s reorganization meeting in January.

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