JACKSON TOWNSHIP, NJ – Jackson Township will probably have it’s first Orthodox Jewish resident holding an elected office on Wednesday morning as Tzvi Herman leads the race.
With 16,528 votes counted, Herman has 8,671 votes. Two write-in candidates, possibly three, share a total of 7,857 votes. The Jackson Republican Party and Ocean County GOP Chairman Frank Holman have endorsed and supported township resident Mike Braun for the job. The Republicans who have been fighting the Orthodox Jewish community and facing numerous civil rights based lawsuits sought to keep Herman from winning a spot on the Jackson Township School Board. That effort will probably fail.
Those votes will likely instead be split between Braun, Allison Borocas and any given “throwaway” write-ins, including Mickey Mouse, a box of rocks, Donald Trump and others that appear perennially on Jackson school board ballots.
In order for Braun or other write-in candidates to win, they will need as much as 95% of the total-write-in vote, plus a large majority of votes still uncounted, which are few.
On the council side, an extremely large portion of voters, 4.23% cast write-in votes in the unopposed council election.