The two Democratic incumbents held a firm grasp on their seats last night in the Princeton Borough Council election as 3,668 voters — 62.9 percent of those registered — turned out to the polls.
Wendy Benchley and Margaret Karcher scored a Democratic sweep, each gaining more than twice as many votes as their most formidable challenger, Republican Rodney Fisk. Benchley's and Karcher's combined totals accounted for more than three-quarters of the total votes.
Benchley received 2,336 votes while Karcher followed close behind with 2,155 votes. Attempting to become the first Republican candidate elected to the Council in nearly a decade, Fisk garnered 1,048 votes. Dorothy Koehn — who ran a "single-issue campaign" to create a civic complex by moving the library and the Arts Council of Princeton from the downtown area north to Valley Road — received just 295 votes.
Voter turnout spiked by nearly 2,000 voters from last year's election, in which 1,693 people — only a quarter of the registered voters — cast their ballots in the Borough Council election.
Margaret Whitlock, the deputy clerk for the Borough, attributed the increase in votes to the hotly contested presidential race. "The presidential race brings people up," she said.
Though Benchley and Karcher previously served on the Council, they were never elected to their posts. Both were appointed to Council positions within the past two years.
Benchley said Monday she will continue to oppose the Millstone Bypass and work to expand the downtown area to include a more varied mix of stores, restaurants and towns.
The Council's recent victory in the continuing Millstone Bypass controversy adds another environmental triumph to Benchley's resume.
The state government recently demanded the New Jersey Department of Transportation release a more comprehensive statement on the impact of the controversial bypass — a proposed alternate road to U.S. Route 1.
As an environmental activist, Benchley fought successfully against the Mercer County incinerator and helped found the New Jersey Environmental Foundation.
Karcher also said Monday she will work to expand the business district during her next term. Opposed to Koehn's relocation of the library, Karcher said she hopes to add a parking garage near the library's current site to help remedy the Borough's parking problem.
Benchley and Karcher's victories uphold the Democratic stronghold in local politics. All Borough Council and Township Committee seats remain in Democratic hands.
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With day four of the sit-in beginning, USG had yet to officially gather to discuss the demonstration. The ‘Prince’ spoke to non-voting attendees and USG Senate members, some of whom expressed frustration at the lack of action, and others who chalked the night’s events up to the execution of procedure.
