2 Republicans Out of Township Committee Race

Republicans will have only two candidates to choose from in the June 5 primary election.

Joseph Contorno formally announced he would not run for Chatham Township Committee Tuesday during the Republican Candidates Night, held at the .

Contorno said he decided not to pursue a seat on the committee "due to personal reasons."

Contorno's name appears last on the ballot.

Petition Challenge Removes Candidate from Primary

Christopher Struening's name will not appear on the primary ballot because a challenge to his petition found he had an insufficient number of signatures.

To run for township committee, Republicans were required to submit a petition with 25 signatures by the April 2 deadline.

According to Chatham Township Clerk Greg LaConte, signatures should come from registered township voters. Signers should be registered Republicans or unaffiliated registered voters.

Struening's petition had 27 signatures, but LaConte said when he reviewed the signatures, two were not registered to vote and a third was registered as a Democrat.

LaConte reviewed the signatures because of a written objection to the party affiliations of those who signed Struening's petition. The objection was submitted by township resident Daniel Miller.

Struening said "it was disappointing to have a deficit of one signature revealed by the challenge." He said he made the decision to run "with late notice of the deadline" and he looks forward to running in a future election.

"I truly believe in being involved in my community, in the principal of civil responsibility, and serving your fellow citizens," Struening said.

remain on the Republican ticket for the June 5 primary. Richard Erich Templin will run unopposed on the Democratic ticket.