Morris County Sheriff, Freeholder Candidates To Debate In May

A hotly contested Republican Primary Election in Morris County this June already has plenty of fireworks, and a debate between nine total candidates should help voters better understand each person’s stance on the issues.

The Republican Club of West Morris, which consists of Washington Township, Mt. Olive, the Mendhams and Chesters, is hosting the debate, set for May 9 at the Chandelier at Flanders Valley on Pleasant Hill Road in Flanders.

Host Joe Nicastro will open the event and Guest Speaker and Morris County Chairman of the Republican Party John Sette will make opening remarks.

The debate moderator is former New Jersey Assemblyman Guy Gregg. The first debate is between James Gannon and John Sierchio, both running for Morris County Sheriff. That debate will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The second debate will begin at 7:30 p.m. between seven Republican candidates vying for three Morris County Freeholder seats.

They include:

• Doug Cabana (Incumbent)
• Kathy DeFillippo (Incumbent)
• Roman Hirniak
• Peter King
• John Krickus
• Tom Mastrangelo (Incumbent)
• Louis Valori

The Freeholder debate will end at 9 p.m. The rules for each debate are the same:

The debate format is Single Moderator. Each candidate will have up to 90 seconds for an opening and then again 90 seconds for a closing statement. The order of speaking will be drawn from a hat with the numbers of 1 to 5 with 1 being the 1st to speak. There will be up to a total of 12 questions time permitting - 6 from the Clubs and 6 from the live audience. Time limit on the questions is 20 seconds with each candidate having up to 60 seconds to respond and then rebuttal time of 30 seconds. No questions will be provided in advance.

Candidates will draw seating positions from a hat. The public is invited to attend and light food and a cash bar will be available. Doors will open at 6 p.m. The June Primary Election is June 7, and polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.