Lumberton, NJ – Former Lumberton Township Mayor and current Committeewoman Gina LaPlaca and her husband, Jason Carty, are facing criminal charges after Burlington County prosecutors accused them of using fraudulent petition signatures in an effort to place LaPlaca on the Democratic primary ballot.
The charges stem from LaPlaca’s bid for another term on the Lumberton Township Committee. According to prosecutors, Carty submitted the nominating petition on his wife’s behalf, while LaPlaca signed an affidavit under oath stating that she had personally circulated the petition and witnessed the signatures.
Voters allegedly denied signing petition
An investigation by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office found multiple people whose names and signatures appeared on the petition but who said they had neither signed the document nor authorized another person to sign for them.
Prosecutors allege the disputed signatures were not simply incidental to LaPlaca’s candidacy. Without them, authorities said, she would not have collected enough valid signatures to qualify for the Democratic primary ballot.
LaPlaca nevertheless appeared on the ballot and finished third in the Democratic primary behind Lumberton Mayor Terrance Benson and Kendra Hatfield.
LaPlaca has been charged with making a false statement under oath, knowingly filing a false petition and related offenses. Carty has been charged with knowingly filing a false petition and related offenses.
The allegations are charges, and neither LaPlaca nor Carty has been convicted in connection with the petition case.
Both are scheduled to appear in court in Mount Holly on Sept. 21.
Charges add to turbulent year for LaPlaca and Carty
The election case follows a series of unrelated legal and personal controversies involving the couple.
LaPlaca was arrested on March 17, 2025, after police said she drove while intoxicated with her young child in the vehicle. Her blood-alcohol concentration was measured at 0.30%, according to previous reports, more than three times New Jersey’s 0.08% legal limit.
In March, LaPlaca pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and a fourth-degree child endangerment offense. She was admitted into New Jersey’s Pretrial Intervention program and placed under three years of supervision, with conditions that included treatment and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
The timeline is significant: LaPlaca’s DWI arrest occurred in March 2025, before the alleged petition fraud connected with the 2026 Democratic primary. The petition allegations therefore did not occur before her DWI arrest.
Another controversy emerged just days before the June primary.
On May 28, police responded to the couple’s Lumberton home, and Carty was subsequently charged with aggravated assault by strangulation and harassment following an alleged domestic incident.
Two days later, LaPlaca publicly accused her husband of trying to kill her.
“My husband was the one drinking, not me,” LaPlaca said in a social media statement reported at the time. She also alleged that Carty “purposely taunts my sobriety by coming home drunk and putting alcohol in front of me.”
Carty’s charges in that case remain separate from the newly disclosed election petition allegations.
Prosecutors say signatures were needed to make ballot
The latest case centers specifically on the process candidates use to qualify for the ballot.
According to prosecutors, LaPlaca certified under oath that she had circulated her nominating petition and witnessed the people listed on it sign their names. Investigators later contacted voters whose purported signatures appeared on the document and were told that multiple signatures had not been provided or authorized.
Authorities allege that removing those signatures would have left LaPlaca short of the number required to appear on the Democratic primary ballot.
The charges were announced after LaPlaca had already competed in and lost the primary.
LaPlaca’s tenure as Lumberton mayor ended Dec. 31, 2025, but she remained a member of the Township Committee while seeking another term.
