Chiusolo, Luciano to Face Off for District 4 Freeholder Seat in November

A Democrat from West Caldwell and a Republican from Cedar Grove will face off in the General Election this November for the District 4 seat on the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders being vacated by Linda Lordi Cavanaugh.

According to the Essex County Clerk's office as of 9:55 p.m., the unofficial results show Leonard Luciano of West Caldwell, received 2,982 votes in the June 7 Democratic Primary, more than 1,000 votes more than his opponent to-be, Republican Cedar Grove Councilman Joseph Chiusolo, who received 1,930 votes in his party's Primary. Both men were unopposed in their respective party's primary. The two will face off in the General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Just 32,804, or 7.15 percent, of the county's 458,922 eligible voters came out for tonight's Primary Election.

The District 4 Freeholder represents 11 municipalities, including Caldwell, Cedar Grove, Essex Fells, Fairfield, Livingston, Millburn, North Caldwell, Roseland, Verona, West Caldwell and West Orange.

Chiusolo will face a considerable challenge as a Republican seeking a seat on a board long dominated by Democrats. He has vowed to bring fiscal responsibility to 4th District, as well as Essex County as a whole. He has said the make-up of the board, which is entirely populated by Democrats, has lead to "excessive and unnecessary spending that have sent taxes skyrocketing."

As he cast his vote this morning at the Cedar Grove Ambulance & Rescue Squad building on Pompton Avenue, Chiusolo said he has "a great team" behind him, and is looking forward to the General Election in November.

Tonight, Chiusolo said he would be challenging Luciano to a series of 11 debates between now and November; one in each of the municipalities of the 4th District.

"My campaign starts at 8:01 p.m. tonight after the polls close. I have 11 communities and I'm going to be working hard going door-to-door meeting with groups and visiting people. I plan on challenging my opponent to a debate in each of the 11 towns we're going to be representing as freeholders."

Luciano said he values Primary day because up until this point he has only been a candidate by petition. Luciano was unable to gain a seat in November on the West Caldwell Council, where Republicans have a stronghold.

“After today, I officially become a freeholder candidate in November,” he said early this morning after exiting his polling place at Wilson Elementary School in his hometown. “This is the beginning of a long campaign trail.”

Luciano said he would spend the day visiting polling places in Livingston, Millburn, West Orange and Caldwell with Freeholder At-Large incumbent candidate Patricia Sebold.

He said tonight he would be surrounded by family, friends and committee members at Forte in Caldwell.

“Since the nomination, I’ve been visiting the 11 municipalities with Democratic Committee members, elected office holders and township decision makers in order to find out the issues, ideas and concerns in different communities,” Luciano said. “I need to know their issues,” he said, “what issues they would like me to raise when elected freeholder.”

Luciano said the issues are going to be different from Caldwell to Cedar Grove to Millburn.

In addition to the Freeholder Race, the 40th Legislative District held a Democratic Primary tonight.

Cedar Grove Deputy Mayor, John Zunic, is running for State Senator in the heavily Republican 40th Legislative District. He was unopposed in tonight's Democratic Party Primary for the position, and garnered 135 votes.

He will challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Kevin O'Toole, a former State Assemblyman and three-time former mayor of Cedar Grove. O'Toole is the son of the current Cedar Grove mayor, Robert O'Toole.

When asked about his candidacy in April, Zunic said he was drafted by the Democratic Party to run, and is viewing the challenge as a learning experience, which he said he hopes will make him a better councilman.

Last month, a straw-poll vote indicated unanimous support among the Township Council for Zunic to succeed O'Toole as Mayor of Cedar Grove when the governing body reorganizes later this month.