Ex-Mayor Cunliffe Seeks To Run As Independent For Lakewood Committee

The partisan races for seats on the Township Committee are uncontested for the primary election Tuesday, though candidates could encounter a third-party challenge from a recognizable face in November. Less than a year after he was pushed out for being what he called a political "lighting rod," Charles Cunliffe is circulating petitions to run as an independent, saying the Republican and Democratic parties have been "co-oped" by developers and landlords, among others. "They control the political activity in town on both sides of the aisle," he said Thursday. "We thought the only viable option would be to go with a third party." The former four-term committeeman and two-time mayor said he has built a sizable constituency, comprised mostly of senior voters who feel disenfranchised under the current government. Larry Simons, Cunliffe's campaign manager of sorts, said he hoped to recruit enough supporters to break from the "old-time politics" practiced by a Township Committee that he described as a "buddy system." "People speak out, but they're not being heard," Simons said. He cited as an example the committee's decision to cut the school budget by just 1.1 percent after voters defeated it. Read the full app article here.