RED BANK – The borough has just joined a list of municipalities that have dropped party labels. And that’s a good thing, according to the incoming mayor.
Dr. Julia Sass-Rubin, a professor with the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers, has given presentations to municipalities on partisan and nonpartisan elections.
In nonpartisan elections, she said candidates can still run with a tagline, but, “there’s no special order. Everyone goes on the same column or row.”
Sass-Rubin said some voters may like having the party identification because it could signal the candidate’s values and believes.
“Are they more liberal, are they more conservative, do they support a right to choose in terms of abortion, or do they want smaller government? That kind of signaling,” Sass-Rubin said. “I think what people would argue is that, in a municipal election, those issues are not so relevant because in city government, you’re not really dealing with things like abortion. It’s about service provision.”