Nonnenmacher to Fill Vacant Township Seat

The Chatham Township Republican Committee chose Laura Ali Nonnenmacher to fill the unexpired seat on the Chatham Township Committee Monday.

The result came after Joseph Contorno, the other leading candidate for the seat, told the committee he did not wish to be considered.

Tom Basta, the chair of the Chatham Township Republican Committee, said Contorno and Nonnenmacher were "the two candidates with the most votes" as the committee went into its meeting Monday night. The two were invited to give brief presentations to the committee during the meeting.

"Joe used his time to withdraw from the race," Basta said. "[He] made a selfless and courageous decision to remove himself from consideration."

Once Contorno made his announcement, Basta said, "Laura was elected overwhelmingly."

The recent election results, in which Nonnenmacher lost to Kevin Sullivan by a mere 20 votes, was in the forefront of the committee members' minds, according to Basta.

"Everyone is aware of the election results, and everyone took that into account," Basta said.

The message now, he said, is that the Republican party has spoken with one voice as general elections draw near.

"We walked out of that meeting tonight and every single person was 100 percent united and together supporting Kevin Sullivan," Basta said.