No

Under our NonPartisan system, elected officials represent everybody. Period. There is no such thing as “my” constituents.  All residents are treated equally.

Under West Windsor’s current nonpartisan system, any voter or group of voters can decide to run for Mayor or Township Council.  They can run as a single candidate or run together as a slate under a chosen slogan.  Candidates running together still are voted on individually, and it is common for voters to choose individuals and vote for members of different slates.

Most candidates now come from the bottom up.  After doing a lot of volunteer work in our many West Windsor organizations, schools, and township boards and committees, people may be encouraged to run by residents who know the quality of their work and their reputations. This also means potential candidates have frequently learned about different aspects of the town, how things work, and where improvements and budgets can do the most good. Other candidates may have new ideas and decide to run. Everyone has an equal chance to go on the ballot and put themselves before the voters. Potential candidates have to collect petition signatures from voters to run.

NonPartisan elections have served our diverse community very well.  Candidates who would never have had the opportunity to run under the outdated partisan method have been elected in West Windsor because they didn’t have to get party approval.  Our government became diverse - women, men, and members of various ethnic groups and religions became Mayor and Council Members.  Our diverse municipal government today is a direct result of the voters having the choice to pick the best candidates, not a political party.

Freedom works.  We can’t afford to go backwards to back rooms.

Under a partisan system, the party leaders both inside and outside West Windsor have the largest say in who gets chosen to run.  Selection is usually based on party and personal loyalty and who is likely to do the party the most good.  Electability is more important than ability to govern; the party is more concerned with getting somebody in office.  In NonPartisan towns individuals are free to take a chance, but the political party aim in partisan towns is to win.

The Party method involves a Municipal Committee Chair and two Committee members from each district (currently 16 districts in West Windsor).  Only party members can run.  The “Regular Democratic Organization” (or Republican) designation to run in the primary is a tremendous advantage and recipients are chosen by the Committee. 

In fact, in 2024, of the 13 primary elections in Mercer County for municipal races, there is not ONE contested primary!  In 5 out of 6 towns, there was not even an opposition candidate on the primary ballor for the general election!