Brick Mayoral, Council Candidates Set For 2025 General Election

BRICK, NJ — With Tuesday's uncontested primary elections for Brick Township mayor and three council seats completed, the campaign for those seats begins in earnest.

All four seats are four-year terms.

The mayoral race pits incumbent Lisa Crate, a Democrat, against Madeline Colagiovanni Iannarone, the Republican nominee.

Crate is seeking her first full term as mayor. She was appointed mayor in 2023 when John 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 is seeking her first term as mayor. She currently serves as 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.

Colagiovanni Iannarone heads a ticket that includes Lisa Reina, Greg Cohen and Perry Albanese running for the three council seats.

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 initially announced as a council candidate. Read more: School Board President Running For Mayor In Brick

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.

Crate's slate includes current councilwoman Heather deJong and newcomers Dan Ward and Rocco Lepore. Read more: Crate Seeks Re-Election As Mayor In Brick

DeJong, who is seeking her fourth term on the council, works for Meals on Wheels of Ocean County and also is a grants writer for Habitat for Humanity of Salem County.

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.

Democrats have held control of the mayor and council since 2012, when 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.

Albanese, who was elected in 2021, has been the lone Republican on the council since 2022. If he, Reina and Cohen win, it would leave the Democrats with a 4-3 margin on the council.