Just over the horizon, a year-and-a-half away, awaits Ewing’s next mayoral election.
But Republican minority leaders say the process hasn’t even started for picking a candidate to challenge Mayor Bert Steinmann, the Democratic incumbent.
“It’s wide open,” says Judith Peoples, the township’s new Republican chair who took over the party leadership post in January.
“At this point, nobody has come forward saying they want to run,” adds Jim Castelize, the newly-elected head of Ewing’s Republican club who sees 2014 as an “interesting year” for his party at the local level.
Though relatively new to their political leadership roles, Peoples and Castelize have not been strangers to the world of partisan politics – she as a previous party activist and two-time former council candidate in Ewing; and he as a three-time candidate for Mercer County freeholder, past leader of the county’s Young Republicans and campaign worker for other candidates on the GOP side.
In separate interviews with the Observer, the Republican leadership duo voiced agreement that the present year will focus mainly on political organization and fund-raising efforts, as opposed to finding a mayoral candidate.
Along with prospective candidates for mayor and two council seats on the line next year, Peoples wants to talk to people interested in filling a bevy of party committee vacancies at the grass-roots level of her party organization.
Since the change in government to a strong mayor form in 1994, the Democrats maintained town hall control for 12 years until Jack Ball, a former Republican councilman riding the crest of a revolt by angry taxpayers, narrowly defeated Democratic councilman Bert Steinmann in the 2006 mayoral election.
However, that Republican victory was short-lived as the Democrats resumed absolute control four years later behind Steinmann’s decisive comeback victory that knocked both Ball and lone Republican Councilman Donald Cox out of office.
“We’ve been out of power entirely too long,” said Peoples, calling this “a building year” in which Republicans are up against a “fierce money disadvantage.”
Even though registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a hefty margin in Ewing, Castelize said the township was politically unique in that neither party could win without the support of independent voters, who outnumber both parties in Ewing and were instrumental in helping Republican Jack Ball narrowly defeat Steinmann in the 2006 mayoral election.
“Unfortunately for us, (independents) helped elect Bert in 2010,” Castelize observed.
So what about next year when the Republican Party, without an incumbent officeholder in the township, must again be rated a big underdog?
In response to that question, Castelize said “it wouldn’t be a bad thing” for the Republicans if Ball decided to make a comeback.
However, Cox – one of Ball’s closest political allies over the years – predicted Ball will say no and that the GOP would field a new mayoral face for next year.
“I would say anyone has a shot at it,” Cox told the Observer.
As for Ball, he expects Ewing Republicans “to start lining up before the end of this year” behind a mayoral candidate.
Citing an age factor (he turns 70 in August), Ball told the newspaper he has “no present plans” to run for mayor again.
“But,” he quickly added, “I’m not closing any doors.”
