LEMBRICH, ADAMS WIN TC DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY; RYAN OUSTED

Greg Lembrich celebrating his win Tuesday night

A major power shift in the Maplewood Township Committee is on its way after Tuesday's Democratic primary election as challengers Greg Lembrich and Nancy Adams won the nomination for the two open seats on the governing body.

Adams and Lembrich took the most votes, with incumbent Jerry Ryan coming in third.

The latest results, with 20 of 21 districts reporting, are below:  

Greg Lembrich: 1,552
Nancy Adams: 1,527
Jerry Ryan: 842

Nancy Adams

Lembrich and Adams will now face Republican challenger Phyllis Scalera in the November election. Scalera ran unopposed, with no second GOP candidate in that primary.

Lembrich won despite running off the official Democratic party line, while Adams and Ryan had run with the official endorsement.

Lembrich said Ryan called to concede at about 8:15 p.m. "He was very gracious and he congratulated me on a good campaign, he thanked me," Lembrich said. "I congratulated him on a good campaign and I thanked him."

"I had an amazing team, any candidate is only as good as the team behind him," Lembrich added. "I had an amazing team of volunteers and supporters. We did it, we worked really hard and I think we got our message out. I think the people were excited about new blood, about fresh ideas on the committee." 

Adams could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

The race was also a battle of mayors, with Mayor Vic Deluca supporting Ryan and Adams and former Mayor Fred Profeta strongly backing Lembrich.  

And the controversial post office redevelopment plan became a major issue as well, with Lembrich strongly opposing the 20-unit, five-store plan and Adams also indicating concern. 

The results mean that the five-member TC will see its biggest shift in many years with two new faces on board.

"I'm of course disappointed to have lost, but Maplewood is going to be well served by these folks and I wish them well," Ryan said. "I called Greg Lembrich and told him I hoped he was going to enjoy serving on the Township Committee as much as I did."