Editing Princeton Township, New Jersey (section)

== Government ==
=== Local government ===
Princeton Township was governed under the [[Township (New Jersey)|Township]] form of government with a five-member Township Committee. The Township Committee was elected directly by the voters in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with one seat coming up for election each year.<ref name=DataBook>''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'', [[Rutgers University]] [[Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy]], March 2013, p. 103.</ref> A Mayor and Deputy Member were elected by the Committee from among its members and serve a one-year term. The Mayor served as the Chairperson of the Committee and exercised executive powers vested in the Mayor's Office by law. All legislative powers were assigned to the Committee. 104 of the 565 municipalities in New Jersey operate with a five-member Committee form of local government.<ref name=Govt/>

An Administrator was also empowered by ordinance to serve in an executive capacity and direct the Township's day-to-day operations.<ref name=Admin/>

Members of the final Princeton Township Committee were Mayor Chad Goerner ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]], term ended December 31, 2012), Deputy Mayor Liz Lempert (D, 2013), Lance Liverman (D, 2013), Bernard P. Miller (D, 2014) and Sue Nemeth (D, 2014).<ref name="Elected Officials">[http://nj.gov/counties/mercer/officials/clerk/pdf/clerk_electedofficials.pdf#page=14 Elected Officials] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511105407/http://nj.gov/counties/mercer/officials/clerk/pdf/clerk_electedofficials.pdf |date=2013-05-11 }}, p. 14. [[Mercer County, New Jersey]], Revised January 26, 2012. Accessed November 20, 2012.</ref><ref name=Govt>[http://www.princetonTownship.org/govbody.html Princeton Governing Body]{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Princeton Township. Accessed August 20, 2012.</ref>

=== Merger of Borough and Township ===
On November 8, 2011, the residents of both the Borough of Princeton and the Township of Princeton voted to merge the two municipalities into one. In Princeton Borough 1,385 voted for, 902 voted against while in Princeton Township 3,542 voted for and 604 voted against. Proponents of the consolidation measure asserted that when the merger is completed, the new municipality of Princeton will save $3.2 million as a result of some scaled-down services, including layoffs of 15 government workers, including 9 police officers (however, the measure itself does not create any line item cost reduction or layoffs). Opponents to the consolidation measure asserted that cost savings alleged by a widely circulated report were incorrect and/or unsubstantiated and that individual voter representation would be diluted by the merged municipal structure.<ref name=tt/> The consolidation is to take effect in 2013.<ref name=app>{{cite news |date= November 8, 2011 |title= 2 Princetons vote to merge into 1 town |url= http://www.app.com/article/20111108/NJNEWS1002/311080107/2-Princetons-vote-to-merge-into-1-town |agency= [[Associated Press]] |work= [[Asbury Park Press]] |location= Asbury Park, NJ |access-date= November 10, 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

=== Federal, state and county representation ===
Princeton Township was located in the 12th Congressional district<ref name=LWV>[http://www.lwvnj.org/images/cg_2011.pdf#page=63 ''2011 New Jersey Citizen’s Guide to Government''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604153059/http://www.lwvnj.org/images/cg_2011.pdf#page=63 |date=2013-06-04 }}, p. 63, New Jersey [[League of Women Voters]]. Accessed August 20, 2012.</ref> and was part of New Jersey's 16th state legislative district.<ref name=Districts2011>[http://www.njelections.org/2011-legislative-districts/towns-district.pdf#page=8 Municipalities Grouped by 2011-2020 Legislative Districts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604184412/https://www.njelections.org/2011-legislative-districts/towns-district.pdf#page=8 |date=2019-06-04 }}, [[New Jersey Department of State]], p. 8. Accessed August 20, 2012.</ref><ref>[https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/districtnumbers.asp Districts by Number for 2011-2020] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714024328/https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/districtnumbers.asp |date=2019-07-14 }}, [[New Jersey Legislature]]. Accessed August 20, 2012.</ref> Prior to the [[New Jersey Legislative Districts, 2011 apportionment|2011 reapportionment]] following the [[2010 United States census|2010 census]], Princeton Township had been in the [[New Jersey Legislative Districts, 2001 apportionment#District 15|15th state legislative district]].<ref name=LWV/>

===Politics===
As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 11,488 registered voters in Princeton Township, of which 5,691 (49.5%) were registered as [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]], 1,520 (13.2%) were registered as [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and 4,263 (37.1%) were registered as [[Unaffiliated (New Jersey)|Unaffiliated]]. There were 14 voters registered to other parties.<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2011-mercer-co-summary-report.pdf Voter Registration Summary - Mercer], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed November 21, 2012.</ref>

In the [[2008 United States presidential election|2008 presidential election]], Democrat [[Barack Obama]] received 75.3% of the vote here (6,963 cast), ahead of Republican [[John McCain]] with 20.7% (1,914 votes) and other candidates with 1.1% (103 votes), among the 9,247 ballots cast by the township's 12,423 registered voters, for a turnout of 74.4%.<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2008-gen-elect-presidential-results-mercer.rev.pdf 2008 Presidential General Election Results: Mercer County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 23, 2008. Accessed November 21, 2012.</ref> In the [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 presidential election]], Democrat [[John Kerry]] received 70.6% of the vote here (6,276 ballots cast), outpolling Republican [[George W. Bush]] with 25.8% (2,295 votes) and other candidates with 1.0% (111 votes), among the 8,894 ballots cast by the township's 11,190 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 79.5.<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2004-presidential_mercer_co_2004.pdf 2004 Presidential Election: Mercer County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 13, 2004. Accessed November 21, 2012.</ref>

In the [[New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2009|2009 gubernatorial election]], Democrat [[Jon Corzine]] received 66.1% of the vote here (3,867 ballots cast), ahead of Republican [[Chris Christie]] with 26.9% (1,576 votes), Independent [[Chris Daggett]] with 5.8% (342 votes) and other candidates with 0.5% (29 votes), among the 5,854 ballots cast by the township's 11,777 registered voters, yielding a 49.7% turnout.<ref>[http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-mercer.pdf 2009 Governor: Mercer County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822213742/http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-mercer.pdf |date=2012-08-22 }}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 31, 2009. Accessed November 21, 2012.</ref>