Hillsborough Republican Mayor Places Thumb on BoE Election, Takes Shot at NJEA on Facebook

Hillsborough's Republican mayor—who is currently running for reelection—sought to influence the local Board of Education race with a blunt Facebook comment supporting one candidate and denouncing anyone supported by the New Jersey Education Association.

A resident in the Hillsborough NJ Neighbor2Neighbor Facebook group asked whether anyone had opinions about the BOE candidates or knew where to read about them.

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Mayor Catherine Payne responded:

"[Name redacted] and anyone else not supported by NJEA!"

No explanation. No carefully worded statement.

Payne endorsed the Board of Education candidate and took a direct shot at the teachers' union by telling residents to support anyone the organization does not.

The comment was posted from Payne's personal Facebook profile in a community discussion. It was not presented as an official township announcement or campaign statement.

But it did come from Hillsborough's sitting mayor—and from a Republican candidate asking voters to return her to the Township Committee this November.

The Hillsborough Township website identifies Payne as the current mayor. She advanced from the June Republican primary and will appear in the November Township Committee election. Patch reported that Payne received 1,242 votes in the Republican primary.

School-board elections are officially nonpartisan. Under New Jersey law, Republican and Democratic labels do not appear beside BOE candidates' names.

While Payne is legally free to voice her opinions regarding Board of Education candidates and elections, there has been a long standing custom that partisan elected officials and candidates do not publicly try to influence nonpartisan BOE elections.

But that's exactly what she did.

Catherine Payne, the mayor of Hillsborough currently running for reelection, tried to influence the Board of Education election by publicly backing a specific candidate while calling for everyone to ignore any candidate supported by the teachers' organization that negotiates with the BOE on their behalf.