Brick Township Election 2024: Election Day Is Here

BRICK, NJ — Election Day 2024 has arrived at last. For voters who have waited until today to cast their ballots, here are reminders about where to vote and who's on the ballot in Brick.

Key information

• Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 5
• Polls open: 6 a.m.-8 p.m.
• Where can I vote in person? Find your polling location online; it also will be on your sample ballot.
• I have a vote-by-mail ballot. How can I return it? Ocean County has 20 ballot drop-box locations. Ballots must be deposited in the dropbox by 8 p.m. Nov. 5
• Mailing it? Ballots must be postmarked by 8 p.m. Nov. 5 and received by the Board of Elections by Nov. 11
• Track your mail-in ballot.

Who Are The Candidates?

In Brick Township, the only local election is for the Board of Education. There are three, three-year terms up for election. Incumbent Victoria Pakala is the only one seeking re-election to the board; board president Stephanie Wohlrab and board member Nicole Siebert are not seeking a return to the board.

Pakala is running with John Henry and Nancy Ellson on the slogan Believe in Brick.

Challenging for the three seats, on the slogan Common Sense 4Education, are George Malgeri, Greg J. Cohen and Georgia Lane-Hansen. Cohen sought election to the school board in 2023 but was defeated.

The following candidates responded to a questionnaire:

• Brick Township School Board Election 2024: Gregory Cohen
• Brick Township School Board Election 2024: John Henry
• Brick Township School Board Election 2024: George Malgeri
• Brick Township School Board Election 2024: Victoria Pakala

The League of Women Voters of Monmouth County held a candidates' forum on Sept. 26. Pakala, Henry and Ellson participated. You can view it here.

Here's a quick rundown of the choices that voters will be asked to make on a national, state and county level:

• Presidential race: Residents can either cast a write-in vote or choose between Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, the Democratic candidates, or former President Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, the Republicans. Also running are: Claudia de la Cruz and Karina Garcia, Party for Socialism and Liberation; Rachele Fruit and Margaret Trowe, Socialist Workers Party; Joseph Kishore and Jerry White, Socialist Equality party; Chase Oliver and Mike Ter Maat, Libertarian Party; Jill Stein and Rudolph Ware, Green Party; Randall A. Terry and Stephen E. Broden, U.S. Constitution Party.
  
  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, will appear on the ballot as independents. While Kennedy withdrew from the race on Aug. 23 and endorsed Trump, it was too late to have his name removed from the ballot in New Jersey, which has a deadline of Aug. 16 for candidates to withdraw. Requests from Kennedy and from the state Democratic Party Committee to remove Kennedy's name were rejected, the New Jersey Globe reported.
• U.S. Senate: The U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Robert Menendez is up for election. Democrat Andy Kim, who has been serving the Third District in the House of Representatives since January 2019, is being challenged for the seat by Republican Curtis Bashaw, a newcomer. Also running for the six-year term are: Kenneth Kaplan, Libertarian Party; Christina Khalil, Green Party; Joanne Kuniansky, Socialist Workers Party; Patricia G. Mooneyham, on the Vote Better slogan.
• U.S. House of Representatives: All 12 House seats in New Jersey are up for election, including the 4th District. Incumbent Republican Chris Smith is seeking his 23rd term in the House. His challengers are Democrat Matthew Jenkins; Barry Bendar of the Green Party, and John Morrison of the Libertarian Party.
• Ocean County: There are two three-year terms up for election on the Board of Commissioners. Republicans Jennifer Bacchione and Robert Arace are being challenged by Democrats Karen Sugden and Regina C. Discenza. Bacchione, who chairs the Berkeley Township Housing Authority, also serves on the Ocean County Board of Health. Her husband is Berkeley Township Mayor John Bacchione. Arace is in his second year as mayor of Manchester Township. The two unseated Barbara Jo "Bobbi Jo" Crea and Gary Quinn in the Republican primary in June. Discenza has run for office before in Lacey Township, and Sugden is making her second bid for office.