The deadline for a political party filing a petition for the June primary will be today at 4 p.m. but in a noticeable turn of events, current Fifth Ward Councilman Richard Templeton has switched political affiliation to run as the Democratic candidate for the ward he is currently representing as a Republican.
The candidates for each ward are as follows:
| 2nd Ward | ||
| 5th Ward |
Thomas Shipley, a Jazz singer known professionally as Thos Shipley, was one of three candidates that were submitted by the Roselle Park Republican Committee (RPRC) last month to replace Michael Yakubov who resigned on February 5th. Councilman Templeton was appointed under state statute that mandates that any replacement for a vacated elected office must be someone from the same political party as the resigning official. Having been appointed on February 19th, Mr. Templeton officially represented the people as a Republican for less than two weeks before running as a Democrat. Several sources confirm that Mr. Templeton switched his political affiliation on March 23rd, five days after being sworn into office.
The second ward will have current Councilman Joseph Petrosky run for a full term and Joseph Alfano will be named the Republican candidate for that seat.
Additionally, as Councilman Templeton was listed as a witness for Michael Yakubov’s potential lawsuit against the municipality, there has no word as to how switching to the political party of the man Mr. Yakubov pleaded guilty to stealing a sign from will impact that possible litigation.
Councilman Templeton was not able to be reached at his contact number provided on the Borough website.