MANCHESTER – The third time was the charm for mayoral candidate Robert Arace who defeated incumbent Mayor Robert Hudak in their third contest in two years.
Manchester Township’s form of government is non-partisan but the community does have Republican and Democratic organizations that are involved in the vetting of candidates who seek to run through a system of petition. There are no party primaries held in the township. Three teams sought to win a mayor’s seat and two council seats for full four-year terms last month.
The runoff election was between Hudak and Arace plus their respective council candidate teams. The runoff took place on December 13, with the polls closing after the publication deadline for The Manchester Times.
Arace said, “I am looking forward to working for the township and this is where the real work begins.” He was joined by his running mates who won their council positions along with fellow Republicans at the Berkeley Township headquarters with GOP members from Manchester, Brick and other area towns.
“We’re surrounded by friends and it was worth the effort. We will be working to preserve the character of the town which was what we ran on. We’ll be rolling up our sleeves and getting the job done and listening to the residents,” Arace added.
In 2021, Hudak also a Republican, faced Arace in a huge campaign. He ran with fellow incumbent Councilwoman Michele Zolezi while Arace ran with council contender Joseph Hankins. This year and during the runoff, Hudak ran with Council President Joan Brush and Timothy Poss while Arace ran with Hankins and his campaign manager from last year, Roxanne Conniff, for the two council seats up for grabs.
The Ocean County Clerk’s Office runoff results on Election night had Arace with 5,205 votes representing 51.80% with Hudak having a total of 4,843 votes representing 48.20% of the vote.
In the council race it was Arace’s team who came out on top with Conniff receiving 5,092 votes or 25.92%, Hankins with 5,089 votes at 25.91%, Brush received 4,808 votes and 24.48% and Poss earned 4,653 votes with 23.48% of the vote. This race was won by who received the majority number of votes.
Early returns had Hudak and his running mates with a slight lead but by 9 p.m. an hour after the polls closed, Arace and his running mates had climbed ahead with a slight edge which they maintained until all the polling districts totals were counted.
“We had to make up the difference of the mail in votes and we were able to do that. District 40 especially made a big difference,” Arace said.
Manchester Township has 39,366 registered voters and 40 voting districts. The mail in turnout for the runoff was 2,922 votes with 10,048 votes cast at the polls in the mayoral race and 19,642 votes cast in the council race.
Ken Seda ran as one of the three mayoral candidates during the November general election. He ran with council candidates Gloria Adkinson and Karen Sugden. Each are members of the Manchester Democrats.
Seda said that while they did not win their election on November 8, “that hasn’t stopped us from having a positive impact on politics and government in Manchester.”
Runoff elections, like the one Manchester just had, were pushed from the original planned date of December 6 to December 13 by acting Governor Sheila Oliver to give officials enough time to prepare. Vote-by-mail ballots had to be printed and mailed and notices provided to certain parties. Manchester’s election will be certified by December 30.
Last month, Hudak and his team received the most votes but failed to earn the 50 plus one percentage of the votes needed to capture their positions. Arace and his team received the second most votes. Hudak received 7,570 votes in the unofficial vote tally on Election night which represented 44.26% while Arace received 5,354 votes which represented 31.19%. Seda received 4,186 votes and 24.4% of the vote.
Last week, Seda said the election results of last month meant, “Manchester voted for change. Gloria, Karen and myself are grateful we had the opportunity to meet so many of our fellow residents, and look forward to working with whomever wins the runoff election.”
The addition of a third slate of candidates was unusual for the township but appeared to generate more interest in the election and voter turnout than more recent elections have.
The price tag for the runoff election to Manchester Township remains unknown at present but it could cost as much as $100,000.
During a recent Township Council meeting the governing body approved an emergency appropriation of up to $100,000 for expenses related to the run-off. As run-off elections are required under state law in cases where no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes cast, municipalities have the responsibility of covering the cost for those elections.
