Montgomery School Board Elections 2026
Get to Know Your School Board Candidates
As always, The Montgomery News is donating space in our September print issue and online to the candidates who are running for the Montgomery School Board so the community members may become informed voters.
To keep it fair and equal, each candidate received the same set of questions on August 4 with a word limit of 500 to 600 words. Those who submitted more than 600 were told their responses would be edited to ensure all candidates received the same space. Those who did not answer the questions were not included.
Nine candidates are running for three seats on the Montgomery Board of Education, which represents Montgomery Township and Rocky Hill. Each term is for three years. Their profiles appear below in alphabetical order.
Expiring Terms
The terms of the following Montgomery School Board representatives will expire in December: Christina Harris, Vanita Nargund, and Victoria “Cookie” Franco-Herman. As of the July 27 deadline at 4 pm, nine people had filed petitions with the Somerset County Board of Elections to run for the board. Harris, who has served on the board since February 2019, was the only incumbent to file.
Nine Candidates
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Incumbent Christina Harris will seek another term. She is running as an independent.
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Candidate John Sangiovanni is also running as an independent. He lists his slogan as “Educate, Don’t Overtax.”
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The other candidates are running on slates:
Slate 1 - Support Every Student
Kara Alaimo and Sharon Marro.
Slate 2 - Advancing Educational Excellence
Karen Anderson and Gabriela Zayova.
Slate 3 - Together for Students
Eric D. Seguin, Nekulkumar “Nick” Barot, and Chunxiao “Chris” Xu.
What Is a Slate?
A slate of candidates is “two or more candidates that run in multi-seat or multi-position elections on a common platform. The common platform may be because the candidates are all members of a political party, have the same or similar policies, or some other reason.”
NJ school board elections are nonpartisan, so in this case, the candidates align together on major campaign issues. In essence, they become a ‘slate’ of candidates, hoping to win an election as a group.
The Montgomery / Rocky Hill School District Board of Education is made up of nine seats. Elected members serve three-year terms. Each January, the board elects a new board president and vice president. As described by the board of education website, "the board’s responsibilities include: setting and evaluating policy; establishing goals; overseeing that the district schools are well run by the administrators they have hired; and adopting a fiscally sound operating budget for the school district. Board members act on the superintendent’s recommendations, meet with civic groups, and receive input from parents, students, and community members."
Nine candidates appear on the ballot on November 3, 2026. They are competing for three open positions on the board, each is a three-year term.