Election 2025: Caroline Thompson For Yardley Mayor

Candidates running in the Nov. 4 general election are providing background about themselves and their positions on the issues to voters in these profiles, which will run in Patch individually for each candidate.

YARDLEY BOROUGH, PA — Council President Caroline Thompson is running for a four-year term as mayor in the Nov. 4 general election.

Thompson, a Democrat, is among the candidates running to replace Mayor Chris Harding, who opted not to seek re-election.

The mayoral race also includes Republican Earl Markey, Independent party candidate Zachary R. Bark, and Brad Oyler as a Write-In candidate.

Biographical Information

• Name: Caroline Thompson
• Age: 34
• Town of Residence: Yardley Borough
• Position sought: Mayor of Yardley Borough
• Are you an incumbent? No, I am currently on Yardley Borough Council
• What Towns Does Your Position Cover? Yardley Borough
• Party affiliation: Democrat
• Family: Yes —I've been married to my college sweetheart for 11 years. We have two young children together. Our eldest goes to Quarry Hill, and our youngest can't wait until it's her turn.
• Education: BA Government & Law, MBA Management & Strategy
• Occupation: Director of Intellectual Property and Brand Protection — General Counsel's Office (ETS, Princeton)

Candidate Questions

1. What is your stance on the police department's future?

I fully support maintaining and strengthening Yardley’s independent police department. Our officers know this community, and our residents value that connection. I also fully support the committee we on Yardley Borough Council have formed to plan for the future. The focus now should be on ensuring long-term sustainability, making sure our department has the staffing, equipment, and resources it needs to serve the borough safely and effectively. That means smart budgeting, transparent planning, and continuing the collaborative work already underway between Council, the Chief, and our officers to identify efficiencies without compromising public safety or local control.

2. What are your thoughts on political violence in the country?

Political violence has absolutely no place in our nation, and it certainly has no place in Yardley Borough. What we’ve seen across the country is alarming. The assassination of Melissa and Mark Hartman was wrong. Full stop. The assassination of Charlie Kirk was wrong. Full stop. Those statements should never be followed by, “but I didn’t agree with them.”

These tragedies don’t happen in a vacuum. They’re symptoms of a larger culture that rewards outrage with clicks and likes. While the Hartmans and Kirk are extreme examples, political violence doesn’t start with murder. It starts in friend groups by laughing at someone else's expense, in online chat rooms, and yes, even in council chambers, when disagreement turns into dehumanization.

I’ve personally received threatening emails, been the target of hateful and untrue smear campaigns, and endured misogyny-charged name-calling since taking office. That’s not who we are, and it’s not who Yardley should ever become.

My commitment is to lead differently, which is why I’ve made a "No Negativity Pledge" in my campaign for Mayor (carolineforyardley.com/pledges). I'm saying enough is enough, and I hope that reminds people that local government doesn’t have to march to the beat of the national drum.

3. What are the biggest challenges to the borough in the future?

The biggest challenge facing Yardley Borough is cash flow (income). We’re a small town with limited financial sources — mostly property taxes. The rising costs for infrastructure and emergency services outpace what modest tax increases can cover. The average household pays about $800 a year to the borough.

In my eight years on Borough Council, we’ve made smart financial moves. We've grown our savings from nearly $0, secured millions in grants for flood mitigation and walkability, and smartly invested Borough funds to earn better-than-normal interest instead of sitting idle.

As Mayor, I’ll have a different role, and stepping away from the day-to-day administrative pressures of the council presidency will allow me to focus more time on in-house grant writing and funding opportunities to make our taxpayer dollars go even further.

Yardley has always done more with less, a quirkiness I have come to love. I’m confident that we’ll keep doing exactly that.