Editing Garwood, New Jersey (section)

==Government==

===Local government===
[[File:Garwood, NJ municipal building from northeast (2), Oct. 2024.jpg|thumb|Garwood Municipal Building]]
Garwood is governed under the [[Borough (New Jersey)|borough]] form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey.<ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/inventory_of_municipal_forms_of_government_in_new_jersey.pdf ''Inventory of Municipal Forms of Government in New Jersey''], [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies, July 1, 2011. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> The governing body is comprised of the mayor and the borough council, with all positions elected [[at-large]] on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. The mayor is elected [[direct election|directly]] by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council includes six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle.<ref name=DataBook>''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'', [[Rutgers University]] [[Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy]], March 2013, p. 95.</ref> The borough form of government used by Garwood is a "[[weak mayor]] / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can [[veto]] ordinances subject to an [[veto override|override]] by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council.<ref>Cerra, Michael F. [http://www.njslom.org/magart0307_p14.html "Forms of Government: Everything You've Always Wanted to Know, But Were Afraid to Ask"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924045019/http://www.njslom.org/magart0307_p14.html |date=2014-09-24 }}, [[New Jersey State League of Municipalities]]. Accessed November 30, 2014.</ref><ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/forms_of_municipal_government_in_new_jersey_9220.pdf#page=6 "Forms of Municipal Government in New Jersey"], p. 6. [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref>

{{As of|2025}}, the [[mayor]] of Garwood is [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] Jen Blumenstock, whose term of office ends December 31, 2026. Members of the Garwood Borough Council are Council President Clarissa Nolde (D, 2025), Karina Boto (D, 2026), Sean Foley (D, 2027), Vincent Kearney (D, 2026), Marc Lazarow (D, 2025), and Chase Padusniak (D, 2027).<ref name=MayorCouncil>[https://garwood.org/index.asp?SEC=095FA6D9-CD65-4643-873B-9C54D9815129&Type=B_DIR Mayor and Council], Borough of Garwood. Accessed January 18, 2025. "The Borough of Garwood is a Borough form of Government with a Mayor and six (6) Council people elected by the citizens. There are four (4) districts in the Borough of Garwood and the Governing Body is elected by the citizens at large."</ref><ref name=UnionOfficials>[http://www.unioncountyvotes.com/elected-officials/ ''Union County Elected Officials''], [[Union County, New Jersey]] Clerk. Accessed January 18, 2025.</ref><ref name=Union2024>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Union/122834/web.345435/#/summary General Election November 5, 2024 Official Results], [[Union County, New Jersey]], updated November 22, 2024. Accessed January 18, 2025.</ref><ref name=Union2023>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Union/119032/web.317647/#/summary General Election November 7, 2023 Official Results], [[Union County, New Jersey]], updated November 22, 2023. Accessed January 3, 2024.</ref><ref name=Union2022>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Union/116135/web.303253/#/summary General Election November 8, 2022 Official Results], [[Union County, New Jersey]], updated November 21, 2022. Accessed January 1, 2023.</ref>

In December 2022, the borough council appointed Rachel Herz to fill the seat expiring in December 2024 that had been held by Louis Petruzzelli, who served briefly before resigning. Petruzzelli had been appointed to fill the seat that had originally been held by Heather Loffredo until she stepped down from office in September 2022.<ref>Mehorter, Kelly.[https://uchawk.com/5281/ "Garwood Appoints Republican Rachel Herz To Vacant Seat"], ''Union County Hawk'', December 14, 2022. "At its December 8 meeting, the Garwood Borough Council appointed Republican Rachel Herz to fill Councilman Louis Petruzzelli’s vacated seat after he resigned last month.... Ms. Herz’s seat on the council has been vacated twice in the past six months – first by Councilwoman Heather Loffredo, who stepped down in September, and then by Mr. Petruzelli, who resigned in November after attending only one meeting as an official member of the governing body."</ref>

In January 2019, the borough council selected Russell Graham from a list of three candidates nominated by the Democratic municipal committee to fill the seat expiring in December 2020 that became vacant when Sara Todisco took office as mayor.<ref>[https://garwood.org/vertical/sites/%7B7F1088A0-CEC9-4505-80EE-1DF1BF7DFFBD%7D/uploads/01-24-2019-MINUTES.pdf Minutes of the Meeting of Mayor and Council for January 24, 2019], Borough of Garwood. Accessed February 21, 2020. "Motion by Councilman Benoit to nominate Russell Graham to fill the vacancy, second by Council President Lazarow.... Councilman Graham was sworn in by the Pete Corvelli, Union County Sheriff."</ref> Graham served on an interim basis until the November 2019 general election, when he was elected to serve the balance of the term of office.<ref name=Union2019>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Union/98875/web/#/summary General Election November 5, 2019 Official Results], [[Union County, New Jersey]], updated December 5, 2019. Accessed January 1, 2020.</ref>

The Borough Administrator is Kyle Harris. The Borough Clerk is Catherine D. Cameron.<ref name=Clerk/>

===Federal, state, and county representation===
Garwood is located in the 10th Congressional District<ref name=PCR2022>[https://www.njredistrictingcommission.org/documents/2021/Data2021/Plan%20Components.pdf 2022 Redistricting Plan], [[New Jersey Redistricting Commission]], December 8, 2022.</ref> and is part of New Jersey's 21st state legislative district.<ref name=Districts2011>[https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/2011-legislative-districts/towns-districts.pdf Municipalities Sorted by 2011-2020 Legislative District], [[New Jersey Department of State]]. Accessed February 1, 2020.</ref><ref name=LWV2019>[https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5bae63366fd2b2e5b9f87e5e/5d30f0a94a82c66427e564d2_2019_CitizensGuide.pdf ''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''], New Jersey [[League of Women Voters]]. Accessed October 30, 2019.</ref><ref>[https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/districtnumbers.asp#21 Districts by Number for 2011-2020], [[New Jersey Legislature]]. Accessed January 6, 2013.</ref>

{{NJ Congress 10}} {{NJ Senate}}

{{NJ Legislative 21}}

{{NJ Union County Commissioners}}

===Politics===
As of March 2011, there were a total of 2,685 registered voters in Garwood, of which 796 (29.6% vs. 41.8% countywide) were registered as [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]], 496 (18.5% vs. 15.3%) were registered as [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and 1,393 (51.9% vs. 42.9%) were registered as [[Unaffiliated (New Jersey)|Unaffiliated]]. There were no voters registered to other parties.<ref name=VoterRegistration>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2011-union-co-summary-report.pdf Voter Registration Summary - Union], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed May 13, 2013.</ref> Among the borough's 2010 Census population, 63.5% (vs. 53.3% in Union County) were registered to vote, including 78.7% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 70.6% countywide).<ref name=VoterRegistration/><ref>[http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/GCTP7.ST16?slice=GEO~0400000US34 GCT-P7: Selected Age Groups: 2010 - State -- County Subdivision; 2010 Census Summary File 1 for New Jersey] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20200212202223/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/GCTP7.ST16?slice=GEO~0400000US34 |date=2020-02-12 }}, [[United States Census Bureau]]. Accessed May 13, 2013.</ref>
{{PresHead|place=Garwood|source=<ref>{{Cite web |title=NJ DOS - Division of Elections - Election Results Archive |url=https://nj.gov/state/elections/election-information-results.shtml |access-date=2025-01-11 |website=nj.gov}}</ref>}}
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{{PresRow|2016|Republican|1,130|1,026|178|New Jersey}}
{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|957|968|50|New Jersey}}
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{{PresRow|2004|Republican|995|928|62|New Jersey}}
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In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2012|2012 presidential election]], Democrat [[Barack Obama]] received 968 votes (48.8% vs. 66.0% countywide), ahead of Republican [[Mitt Romney]] with 957 votes (48.2% vs. 32.3%) and other candidates with 38 votes (1.9% vs. 0.8%), among the 1,985 ballots cast by the borough's 2,812 registered voters, for a turnout of 70.6% (vs. 68.8% in Union County).<ref>[http://njelections.org/2012-results/2012-presidential-union.pdf Presidential November 6, 2012 General Election Results - Union County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201192205/http://njelections.org/2012-results/2012-presidential-union.pdf |date=February 1, 2014 }}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, March 15, 2013. Accessed May 13, 2013.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140201191259/http://njelections.org/2012-results/2012-ballotscast-union.pdf Number of Registered Voters and Ballots Cast November 6, 2012 General Election Results - Union County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, March 15, 2013. Accessed May 13, 2013.</ref> In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2008|2008 presidential election]], Republican [[John McCain]] received 1,090 votes (51.6% vs. 35.2% countywide), ahead of Democrat [[Barack Obama]] with 971 votes (46.0% vs. 63.1%) and other candidates with 31 votes (1.5% vs. 0.9%), among the 2,111 ballots cast by the borough's 2,782 registered voters, for a turnout of 75.9% (vs. 74.7% in Union County).<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2008-gen-elect-presidential-results-union.pdf 2008 Presidential General Election Results: Union County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 23, 2008. Accessed May 13, 2013.</ref> In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2004|2004 presidential election]], Republican [[George W. Bush]] received 995 votes (50.5% vs. 40.3% countywide), ahead of Democrat [[John Kerry]] with 928 votes (47.1% vs. 58.3%) and other candidates with 30 votes (1.5% vs. 0.7%), among the 1,970 ballots cast by the borough's 2,539 registered voters, for a turnout of 77.6% (vs. 72.3% in the whole county).<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2004-presidential_union_co_2004.pdf 2004 Presidential Election: Union County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 13, 2004. Accessed May 13, 2013.</ref>

In the [[New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2017|2017 gubernatorial election]], Democrat [[Phil Murphy]] received 698 votes (49.8% vs. 65.2% countywide), ahead of Republican [[Kim Guadagno]] with 654 votes (46.6% vs. 32.6%), and other candidates with 51 votes (3.6% vs. 2.1%), among the 1,466 ballots cast by the borough's 3,007 registered voters, for a turnout of 48.8%.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/2017/2017-general-election-results-governor-union.pdf |title=Governor - Union County |date=December 21, 2017 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=November 23, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/2017/2017-gen-elect-ballotscast-results-union.pdf |title=Number of Registered Voters and Ballots Cast - November 7, 2017 - General Election Results - Union County|date=December 21, 2017 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=November 23, 2024}}</ref> In the [[New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2013|2013 gubernatorial election]], Republican [[Chris Christie]] received 64.1% of the vote (802 cast), ahead of Democrat [[Barbara Buono]] with 34.3% (429 votes), and other candidates with 1.6% (20 votes), among the 1,297 ballots cast by the borough's 2,763 registered voters (46 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 46.9%.<ref name=2013Elections>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-results-governor-union.pdf |title=Governor - Union County |date=January 29, 2014 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref><ref name=2013VoterReg>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-ballotscast-union.pdf |title=Number of Registered Voters and Ballots Cast - November 5, 2013 - General Election Results - Union County|date=January 29, 2014 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref> In the [[New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2009|2009 gubernatorial election]], Republican Chris Christie received 823 votes (56.4% vs. 41.7% countywide), ahead of Democrat [[Jon Corzine]] with 477 votes (32.7% vs. 50.6%), Independent [[Chris Daggett]] with 127 votes (8.7% vs. 5.9%) and other candidates with 18 votes (1.2% vs. 0.8%), among the 1,460 ballots cast by the borough's 2,681 registered voters, yielding a 54.5% turnout (vs. 46.5% in the county).<ref>[http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-union.pdf 2009 Governor: Union County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017230050/http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-union.pdf |date=2012-10-17 }}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 31, 2009. Accessed May 13, 2013.</ref>