MANCHESTER – Township residents knew the winner of a two-man mayoral race would have the first name Robert. They just didn’t know what his last name would be. Now they know.
Mayor Robert Hudak will retain his title. He won the one-year unexpired term over challenger Robert Arace on November 2. Hudak’s running mate, Councilwoman Michele Zolezi, will retain her council seat, beating Joseph T. Hankins.
The vote tally on Election Night was 8,768 votes for Hudak to 6,730 votes for Arace. Zolezi received 7,944 while Hankins picked up 6,698. These totals have yet to be certified by the county clerk.
This was a competitive race that involved two sets of Republicans in a non-partisan form of government.
Between large billboards on Route 70 by both pairs of candidates to social media posts to debates about whether invitations were sent to emergency responders at a 9/11 service, voters had a lot to take in.
Arace, a relative political newcomer and Manchester Republican Club member, received some surprising endorsements. Lakehurst Republican Mayor Harry Robbins was among the first. He also got the nod from former township police chief Lisa Parker, Council President Craig Wallis and Councilman James Vaccaro.
Members of the Township Council approved Hudak to serve as mayor of Manchester following Mayor Kenneth Palmer’s resignation in June. Palmer had accepted the role of a state superior court judge. A month later the council also unanimously approved Michele Zolezi’s appointment to fill Hudak’s council seat.
Two challengers stepped up to run against Hudak soon after, although one could not garner the necessary petition signatures to get a spot on the ballot. That left the mayor race to Hudak and Arace.
In their interviews with The Manchester Times they covered a lot of ground concerning issues of development, drawing new businesses to the community, the addition of a full-time paid fire service to supplement the township’s volunteer fire companies, the environment and municipal spending.
The race comes at a time when the township has seen a change of command in the police department with Parker’s resignation and long-time department member Robert Dolan took over on July 1. The township also saw the hiring of a new business administrator, Brandon Umba, who was brought in by Hudak.
Manchester also had four candidates running for two full term seats on the Board of Education. George J. Cervenak III received 5,914 votes to win one seat while Mike Kelliher won the second with 5,280. Sasiyao O. Omilanowicz received 4,518 votes while Nicole Sahlin garnered 4,329 as of election night results.
