JACKSON – The township’s mayoral and two-seat council race seems to have been going on forever with heated exchanges during council meetings, pointed questions that weren’t always answered, social media videos often using AI enhancements and captioned commentary. But now, with Election Day over the three-team war has ended and the winners are the Fight For Jackson Team.
Elliott Shem-Tov will be mayor next year, earning 10,625 votes. Shem-Tov’s running mates also won council seats. Incumbent Councilman Chris Pollak received 12,157 votes and Amanda Trombetta received 10,397 votes.
They described themselves as independent Republicans and their campaign sparked a revolution within the community calling for strong change in direction.
Incumbent Mayor Jennifer Kuhn headed the Standing Up For Jackson team. A Republican, she was appointed as mayor in October of 2025 following the resignation of Michael Reina who served in that role for nearly 15 years. She sought to be elected as mayor for a full four-year term but received 8,816 votes.
Her council candidate running mates were Township Board of Education member Brian McCarron (8,136 votes) and John “Pojo” Pejoski (8,176 votes).
Their platform focused on public safety (both council candidates came from career law enforcement backgrounds), preserving open space, and enhancing services for seniors and families. They had been endorsed by the Jackson GOP, Assemblyman Alex Saucikie (R-12), and 4th District Congressman Chris Smith.
The two GOP teams were formally in place by July but a few weeks later a Democratic team emerged, called Jackson United. Brandon A. Rose ran for mayor and received 2,868 votes. He was joined by council candidates Paul Sarti (1,883 votes) and Casey Jackson (1,919 votes). Their platform promised full transparency, a research-based decision-making processes and better communication between those in government and the public. Some residents expressed that the addition of this team was designed to be a spoiler to aid Kuhn’s contingent but Rose told The Jackson Times that he wanted to offer voters an alternative to the two warring GOP slates.
The Fight For Jackon team came out swinging back in January bringing on what would become their platform of breaking the machine, fighting overdevelopment, and focusing on government transparency and public accountability.
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