Incumbents Maintain Lead In Gloucester Township School Board Race

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Two incumbents running for three open seats on the Gloucester Township K-8 Public School District Board of Education maintained their lead in the 2020 elections following a second full day of counting, according to county officials.

Board member Mary Ann Johnson leads the seven-person field with 8,972 votes, according to unofficial results provided by the Camden County Board of Elections. The results were updated Friday afternoon.

Board President Mary Jo Dintino was second in voting with 8,318 votes, followed by former Board Member Ellen Reese with 8,292 votes. Jose Fontanez trails Reese by 678 votes for the third open seat. He had 7,614 votes as of Thursday night.

Former Board Member Linda Gilch had 7,253 votes, followed by Eleanor “Patti” Senner with 6,080 votes. Joanne Rossell had 5,859 votes.

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As of Friday, Camden County had counted 186,378 vote-by-mail ballots and 203 machine ballots. No provisional ballots had been counted as of Friday, and turnout was 398,475.

According to the Board of Elections, the county will update numbers daily through Nov. 23. It will begin counting provisional ballots on Nov. 11.

Election Day was Tuesday, and the county has updated results four times since, including once on Election Day, twice on Wednesday, once on Thursday and once on Friday. The process was slowed by bad barcodes on ballots in multiple Camden County towns, according to the Courier Post. Gloucester Township was not one of those towns.

Dintino, Senner and Fontanez ran as one ticket, with an eye toward improving student achievement. Johnson prides herself on her independence, and said she is proud of the things she has accomplished during her time on the board, which has lasted nearly six years.

Gilch served for 16 years on the board, and she believes every child should have the chance to learn. She said it is especially important for children to be engaged and learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to her time with the Board of Education, Reese was a Commissioner in Gloucester Township Fire District No. 3 and currently serves as that board's secretary. She is also concerned about seeing the schools get through the pandemic.

The winners will be sworn in come January, shortly after the board swears in its newest member. Jasmine Robinson was recently appointed to fill the remainder of Carolyn Grace's term, after Grace was appointed to Township Council. She will be sworn in after undergoing a background check, and the board could have a drastically different look in 2021.

For full coverage of the 2020 election in New Jersey, go here: New Jersey Elections 2020