Thin Margin Separates Mayoral Candidates In Brick Election: Unofficial Results

Updated, 9:40 p.m.

BRICK, NJ — With all districts reporting, the Brick Township mayoral race is separated by less than 300 votes, while the Republicans appear to have swept three seats on the Township Council, according to unofficial results.

Mayor Lisa Crate, the Democratic incumbent, holds 261-vote lead over Republican Madeline Colagiovanni Iannarone. With 57 of 57 districts reporting, Crate had 16,705 votes to 16,444 for Colagiovanni Iannarone, according to unofficial tallies.

Republicans Lisa Reina (17,478), Perry Albanese (17,427) and Greg Cohen (16,838) held solid leads in the council race over Democrats Heather deJong (14,807), Dan Ward (14,655) and Rocco Lepore (14,558).

The outcome gives the Republicans three seats on the Township Council, but leaves the Democrats with a 4-3 majority. Albanese, an incumbent, had been the lone Republican on the council for the last three years.

DeJong was an incumbent and was seeking her fourth term. The third seat that was open has been held by Democrat Marianna Pontoriero, who did not seek re-election. Pontoriero has battled cancer for several years.

The Democrats have held control of the mayor and council since 2012, when John Ducey, Susan Lydecker, Jim Fozman and Robert Moore defeated Republicans John Catalano, Ruthanne Scaturro, Michael A. Thulen and Brian DeLuca. Ducey was elected mayor two years later and the remainder of the council seats were won by Democrats, giving the Democrats full control until Fozman switched parties following a falling out between Fozman and the town's Democratic Club.

Crate was seeking her first full term as mayor. She was appointed mayor in 2023 when Ducey stepped down to become a Superior Court judge. Crate then won election in November 2023 to complete the final two years of Ducey's term, becoming the first woman elected mayor of the township in its history.

Colagiovanni Iannarone was seeking her first term as mayor. She has been the president of the Brick Township Board of Education and is in the final year of her three-year school board term. She has worked for Brick Township Recreation Department as a recreation leader.

Albanese, who is serving the final year of his council term, initially was not on the ticket but was a replacement for Rob Canfield, who was announced as a council candidate.

Reina has not run for office in Brick previously. The Republican Club announcement described her as "a solutions-driven leader with decades of experience managing complex operations. She is focused on ensuring responsible budgeting, increasing transparency, and putting the priorities of Brick’s families and residents first."

Cohen has run for the Brick Township Board of Education in the last two elections. He is the director of transportation for the West Orange Schools and a former bus driver for the Brick Township Schools. He is an adjunct instructor for the Rutgers Transportation Supervisors Course and is the owner of the Gregory J. Cohen Insurance Agency.

Lepore, who has lived in Brick for more than 30 years, is council representative for the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters and has been a carpenter since starting as an apprentice in 1993. He is a member of Brick Township’s zoning board. He also serves on the Essex County College Foundation and Newark Workforce Development boards.

Ward is a chemistry professor at Ocean County College and was the New Jersey State Senate deputy budget director from 2019-2023.