By John Burton
SHREWSBURY – This was not the year for change for Shrewsbury given the election results.
Despite a year when Democrats had a full slate of candidates – the first in many, many election seasons in the borough – all four Republican incumbents were easily re-elected.
This year voters were asked to select two candidates to fill one-year unexpired terms and two for the full three-year term on the six-member borough council.
The end result was Republicans Erik Anderson won the one-year term with 1,355 votes and Thomas L. Moran winning 1,277, handily defeating Democrats Shane Berkelaar who won 882 votes, and Patrick DiBello, who received 870.
For the three-year terms, Republicans Deidre DerAsadourian won 1,250 votes and Peter J. Meyer got 1,242. Their Democratic challengers John M. Collins and Donald Sena won 947 and 948 votes, respectively.
“I think it went along straight party lines,” in this election year in a community where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats, said Norma Rosenbloom, Democratic municipal chair, explaining the defeat.
According to the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office, Shrewsbury has 1,018 registered Republicans, 802 Democrats and 1,449 unaffiliated voters.
Regardless of the results, Rosenbloom said there will be competitive elections going forward. “It rankles me that people don’t have a choice,” she said. “Even if you don’t vote for the candidate, you should have a choice.”
Given his and his running mates’ strong showing, Anderson sees it as the voters’ way of rewarding elected officials for their efforts.
“I think the voters recognize that our slate of candidates is truly dedicated to the town and work very, very hard to make it a special place to live,” paying special attention to spending and quality of life issues, Anderson said.
