The Stage is Set for November Elections

The unofficial primary results are in and Westwood voters will have to choose between Democrat and Republican candidates for mayor and council seats come November.

Democrat Mayor John Birkner Jr. will run against Republican and current Council President Robert Miller. Both ran unopposed in the primary with Birkner receiving 112 votes and Miller getting 121.

Former mayor Thomas Wanner has filed as an Independent to also run for mayor on the November ballot.

For the Westwood council, sitting Councilman John J. Sciara and Councilwoman Cynthia Waneck will be on the Republican ticket against Democratic challengers David Fischer and Philip Cerruti. All ran unopposed in the primary. Sciara received 144 votes, Waneck got 140, Fischer received 99 and Cerruti got 98.

No Democrats were on the ballot for the local race in Washington Township. Current Council Vice President Steve Cascio, Councilman Glenn Beckmeyer and Councilman Richard Hrbek are each running on the Republican ticket to retain their seats in the fall. Cascio got 115 votes, Beckmeyer received 127 and Hrbek got 127 Tuesday.

At the county level, Elizabeth Randall is making a bid for reelection as county clerk on the Republican side. Democrat John S. Hogan will be up for the Democrats. Both ran uncontested in the primary.

Republican Andrew Cimiluca will take on Democrat Michael R. Dressler in the Surrogate race. Neither ran in a contested primary.

For the Board of Chosen Freeholders, Republicans Joel Brizzi and Anthony W. Rottino will run against Democrats David Ganz, a current freeholder, and Joan Voss, currently an assemblywoman in the 38th district. None were contested in the primary.

Republican incumbents Sen. Gerald Cardinale (Demarest), Assemblyman Robert Schroeder (Washington Township) and Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk (Hillsdale) will be on the November ballot after Tuesday’s primary. All ran unopposed.

According to an unofficial list, Clinton Bosca of River Vale will run for an Assembly position as an Independent in November.

Cardinale has served in the Senate since 1982. He is currently a member of the Commerce Committee, the Judiciary Committee and the Legislative Oversight Committee.

After spending nearly two decades on the Washington Township council, Schroeder was elected to the Assembly in 2009. He serves on the following committees: Financial Institutions and Insurance; Homeland Security and State Preparedness; and Special Committee on Economic Development.

Vandervalk, a former Bergen County Freeholder and Montvale Councilwoman, was elected to the Assembly in 1991 and serves on the Consumer Affairs and the Housing and Local Government Committees.