Deborah Fuentes, a Republican Lakewood Township Committee incumbent, and Moshe Raitzik, currently serving as Lakewood Fire Commissioner, won Tuesday’s primary comfortably, defeating challenger Aaron Hirsch, who had campaigned on traffic relief and quality-of-life improvements. Raitzik led with 2,067 votes, Fuentes followed with 1,627, and Hirsch received 962.
The margin was decisive. But the more striking number is the one that wasn’t on the ballot.
Out of 65,828 registered voters in Lakewood, roughly 4,321 cast ballots — a turnout of about 6.6%, with a small number of mail-in ballots still outstanding. That means more than 93% of registered voters in New Jersey’s fastest-growing municipalities sat out the election entirely.
In recent weeks, the Route 9 traffic projects have dominated community conversation, with residents voicing frustration over disruptions along and around the corridor. Hirsch had made traffic and quality-of-life concerns the centerpiece of his campaign. Whatever one’s view of his candidacy, Tuesday’s results suggest that the thousands of residents who have been loudest about those issues did not show up to weigh in when they had the chance.
People who show up to vote make the decisions for the people who do not. The people who showed up in Lakewood were fewer than 4,400.
Next year, have early polling stations at the Adirei Hatorah event.
The Vaad endorsed Fuentes. That would have just cemented her win.
The most interesting number here isn’t who won or lost — it’s that only 6.6% of registered voters showed up. That’s an incredibly small sample to draw broad conclusions from.
Hirsch’s 956 votes clearly show there’s a segment of voters looking for something different, but it’s hard to know how much of that was anti-incumbent sentiment versus support for Hirsch himself.
Either way, this election feels more like a warning sign that voters want to be heard than a dramatic shift in Lakewood politics.
Interesting results. For all the attention Hirsch received during the campaign, he still finished nearly 650 votes behind Fuentes and over 1,000 votes behind Raitzik.