Three independent candidates are running against Mayor Bert Steinmann and incumbent council members Sarah Steward and Kathleen Wollert in the Nov. 6 general election.
Ron Prykanowski, a retired municipal purchasing agent, will be challenging Steinman, a Democrat, for the mayor’s job. He is running with former state Senator Dick LaRossa and Katie McKinley, a CPA candidate, against incumbents Steward and Wollert.
The three, who are running under the team name, “A Better Ewing,” filed petitions by the June 5 (N.J. Primary Day) deadline to appear on the November ballot, said Ewing Township Clerk Kim Macellaro.
The Ewing Republicans did not run any candidates in the primary and will have no candidates on the November ballot. Up for election this year are the mayor’s four-year term and two four-year seats on township council.
In a statement announcing his team’s candidacy, Prykanowski, a Rebublican himself, said his team was assembled due to the lack of “a credible challenge from the local Republican party.”
“No candidate running for public office should go unchallenged, said Prykanowski. “By running unaffiliated, we can get out from under national politics which always seems to trickle down to the local level.”
LaRossa is a former television presenter who served two terms in the state Senate as a Republican. McKinley’s political affiliation is unknown.
“Ewing has been victimized by archaic thinking,” said Prykanowski in a statement announcing his team’s candidacy. “The township has had many missed opportunities. And as such, we need to look at and re-evaluate our current master plan. Retail shopping is a thing of the past. E-commerce and high technology are the future. Ewing must get on board or get left behind.”
