Politics & Government
Show of Support for Republican Township Officials
Although no votes needed to be cast, Republicans from Bernards came out to show support for county officials who were unopposed in seeking their backing.
Last night may have featured voting, but Bernards Township Republicans did not need to cast any ballots.
The Somerset County Republican Organization held its candidate screening last night, to determine who will have the organization's backing in upcoming elections.
But because the officials who serve Bernards Township ran unopposed in seeking the Republican backing, Bernards' district did not need to vote.
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Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen was unopposed in his bid for Republican backing from those in Bernards in his upcoming re-election campaign to continue as the representative for the 11th Congressional District, which includes all of Morris County and parts of Essex, Somerset, Sussex and Passaic counties. He announced his candidacy just a day after the passage of the health care bill. He has criticized and called for lower taxes, smaller government and more targeted health reforms.
"I am fighting on behalf of my constituents for the opportunity to help lead our nation in the direction of prosperity and economic freedom," he said in announcing his candidacy earlier this week. "November will determine if the President and the House Speaker will continue driving our country toward more government control, more spending, more borrowing, more debt and more taxes."
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Somerset County Sheriff Frank Provenzano was one of those running unopposed at the meeting, along with Somerset County Freeholder Patricia Walsh.
Walsh said she would continue to emphasize the open space program in Bernards, taking advantage of better prices on land at this point in time, and working to meet the growing need for human services in the county because of the economy.
The third candidate was Somerset County Surrogate Frank Bruno, who said he plans to help the community learn to protect themselves in their wills and estates, and to do outreach to inform others of how to avoid mistakes.
Although the candidates were unopposed in the district, Republican Municipal Committee chairman John Bayeux said it was important for area Republicans to be present to nominate and show support for the candidates.
"We needed a good turnout, and we had a good turnout," he said.
