Princeton Campaign Capsule for the week of Feb. 19
Mark Freda will officially kick off his campaign for Princeton mayor tonight from 5:30 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Princeton Italian-American Sportsmen’s Club at 8 Founders Lane in Princeton. The event is open to the public.
“I look forward to this opportunity to meet members of the Princeton community and build upon the support I’ve received going into this campaign,” said Freda in a press release about the event.
The former Princeton Borough councilman and longtime veteran of the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad and Princeton Fire Department has been emphasizing communication in his campaign materials.
“Transparency and clear two-way communication are at the core of my campaign,” he said. “My experience and leadership will help us grow our culture of customer service and responsive government here in Princeton.”
So far, Freda is the only candidate to announce he is running for mayor in the Democratic primary. The Princeton Community Democratic Organization, a private club where members pay dues in order to vote on candidate endorsements, select which local candidates to endorse for the council and mayor’s race on Sunday, March 15.
The Republican Party is not formally endorsing a GOP candidate for mayor or council for the primaries this year.
So far, three people have announced they will seek to win the Democratic nomination for the two seats up for grabs on the Princeton Council. Newcomer Dina Shaw was the first to announce she will seek to be elected to the council. Incumbent council members Leticia Fraga and David Cohen announced last week that they will seek reelection. People in the know in the Democratic party have said at least one more candidate plans to announce a council bid, but no names have been shared yet.
Candidates do not need the endorsement of their parties to run for office. Republican and Democratic candidates can file petitions with the municipal clerk’s office to run in the primary races until March 30. Independent candidates have until primary election day on June 2 to file petitions to run with the county clerk. Petitions to run for school board are not due until the last Monday in July.
Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.