Despite Big Field, Gloucester School Board Member Runs Unopposed

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — The general elections in Gloucester Township are just over a week away, and the race for seats on the K-8 School District’s Board of Education is just as crowded as ever, if not a little uneven.

A total of four seats are up for grabs in this year’s school board elections, including a seat that became vacant earlier this year. As has become customary in the district, nine candidates are running for those seats.

However, in this instance, only one of them is running for the unexpired term. Brian Hammell, who was appointed to fill the seat that became vacant when Brian Reagan resigned earlier this year, will run unopposed to fill the remainder of the term, barring any major write-in challenges.

Hammell was appointed to the seat in March by a 6-2 vote of the board members. He was selected over longtime board member Ellen Reese on that day. Linda Gilch initially declared her intention to fill the seat, but withdrew her name that night.

Now, Reese and Gilch are running again, but they are instead in a crowded field chasing three open, full-term seats on the board. Jennifer O’Donnell is the only incumbent running for re-election. The other contenders include:

• Joanne Rossell
• Victoria Smith
• Matthew Wilson
• Robert Strong
• Martita Diamond

It is becoming a tradition for a crowded field to chase seats on the local school board. Last year, 15 candidates ran for three seats, and five ran for three seats in 2017. The winners from these crowded fields oversee spending for the district's eight elementary schools and three middle schools.

The election for the Gloucester Township seat on the Black Horse Pike Regional Board of Education is more direct: incumbent Kevin McElroy faces one challenge, from Margerite Mulvan. The board governs Timber Creek, Highland and Triton regional high schools.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.