Lakewood Vaad Makes Endorsements As Early Voting Opens in Primaries For Lakewood Township Committee

Early voting in the New Jersey primary election opens Tuesday, with Lakewood residents heading to the polls to choose nominees for two seats on the Township Committee in what has so far been a notably subdued primary season.

Early voting in New Jersey’s primary runs from Monday, May 26 through Sunday, May 31. Polling hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Election Day is Tuesday, June 2, with polls open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Lakewood voters may cast early ballots at the Lakewood Municipal Building or at any other early voting site in Ocean County. The county is operating ten early voting locations this year, including sites in Jackson, Brick, and Manchester, as well as branches of the Ocean County Library, the Berkeley library in Bayville, the Charles A. Smith Community Center in Forked River, the Upper Shores Library in Lavallette, the Little Egg Harbor Library, the Southern Resource Center in Manahawkin, and the Toms River Library.

New Jersey runs a closed primary. Registered Democrats may vote only on the Democratic ballot and Republicans only on the Republican ballot. Unaffiliated voters may declare a party affiliation at the polls and cast a ballot in that primary. Last year, roughly 250 Lakewood residents switched their registration from Republican to Democrat to participate in the primary. Under state law, anyone who wished to switch back was required to do so at least 55 days before this year’s primary.

On the local ballot, two seats on the Lakewood Township Committee are up for election. Republican voters may select up to two candidates from a three-way field, while Democratic voters will see two candidates running together.

The Lakewood Vaad on Tuesday endorsed incumbent Lakewood Committeewoman Deborah Fuentes and Moshe Raitzik, who is currently serving as Fire Commissioner, in the Republican primary for Lakewood Township Committee.

Committeewoman Debbie Fuentes is seeking reelection on the Republican line. She faces two challengers for the GOP nomination: Aaron Hirsch, a Lakewood resident and regular fixture at Township Committee meetings, and Moshe Raitzik, who currently serves as a Lakewood fire commissioner.

On the Democratic side, Mayor Ray Coles is running for another term and is joined on the ballot by Harriet Goldberg.

Hirsch has built his campaign around the day-to-day frustrations of Lakewood family life. He has criticized what he calls the lack of coordination between state and local agencies on road work, pointing in particular to construction scheduled erev Shabbos and erev Yom Tov, and has pledged to push for greater accountability to prevent the kinds of last-minute closures that have repeatedly snarled the town heading into Shabbos. He has also seized on the state’s unfair treatment of Lakewood in education funding, noting that the township has the largest K-12 student population in New Jersey but ranks 77th in school funding. He has vowed to advocate aggressively for additional state resources.

Raitzik, the fire commissioner, has centered his campaign on safety, transparency, infrastructure, and taxpayer accountability. He has pledged to push for tighter oversight of new development, focusing on traffic patterns, fire access, sidewalks, and broader neighborhood safety concerns tied to construction. Raitzik has also argued that Lakewood’s master plan needs to be updated so that roads, utilities, and other infrastructure can keep pace with the township’s continued growth.

He has also emphasized greater public involvement in local government, including a call to restore in-person Township Committee meetings to make it easier for residents to attend and voice concerns. Raitzik is also advocating for expanded hazardous-road busing for children who currently walk to school on roads without sidewalks. A former member of the Lakewood Board of Education and the Planning Board, he has cited his background in public service and education as the foundation of his candidacy.

Neither Fuentes nor the Coles-Goldberg Democratic slate has waged a high-profile public campaign in recent weeks, in keeping with the broader quiet tone of this year’s primary. The relative calm marks a contrast from last year, when the Gottheimer gubernatorial race and several other statewide contests pulled significant attention and dollars into Lakewood ahead of the primary.

The winners of Tuesday’s Republican and Democratic primaries will advance to the November general election, where the two Township Committee seats will be decided.