Montgomery Re-Elects Democratic Leaders to Township Committee, Despite GOP Candidates' Call to Diversify

By Barbara A. Preston | Posted November 6, 2024 | Updated at 9 pm

Montgomery residents re-elected Mayor Neena Singh and Committeeman Dennis Ahn on Tuesday despite a healthy challenge from Republicans Pam Booth and Marion Sanders, who argued that the all-Democratic Township Committee needed diversity of political party representation in addition to its current diversity of ethnic backgrounds.

Singh is a long-time Montgomery resident and the first Indian American Sikh born in India to serve as a governing official of a New Jersey municipality. She was appointed to the Montgomery Township Committee in 2021 to fill a seat vacated by Catherine Gural (D). Singh was selected mayor January, making her the first woman born in India to be named mayor in the state of New Jersey.

In her professional life, Singh works as a senior partner with Keller Williams Cornerstone Realty in Belle Mead. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and English literature from Kurukshetra University in India.

Committeeman Ahn is an entrepreneur and local business owner (Kasia Asian Market in Belle Mead) and is a US Army Veteran. His parents immigrated to New Jersey from Korea.  

Montgomery Township Committee remains all Democratic after incumbents Neena Singh (center) and Dennis Ahn (second from right) were re-elected on Tuesday. From left: Devra Keenan, Vincent P. Barragan ( first generation Cuban American), Singh, Ahn, and Patricia Taylor Todd.

The five-member Montgomery Township Committee is ethnically diverse. Committeewoman Taylor Todd has said, "We all have our different skill sets. I'm looking forward to helping the community to be more engaged. We have a lot of qualifications up here."

From left: Montgomery GOP candidates Pam Booth and Marion Sanders ran on a platform for "All Montgomery," and sought to add political diversity to the Montgomery Township Committee.

Sanders and Booth released the following joint statement to The Montgomery News, conceding the race:

"We have great respect for both Nina and Dennis and wish them well as they continue to serve Montgomery. It is still our belief that political diversity on the committee would represent Montgomery the best, and we are disappointed that, while we stress diversity in our community, so few see this as applying to our [township committee] representation.

"In addition, more than 1,000 Republicans registered in Montgomery failed to vote. It is our goal in the coming year to raise voter awareness of the power they have in their hands."

Results from the Somerset County Clerk as of 3:36 pm on Wednesday are shown below.

These initial tallies below do not represent the final election outcome. Results are added as they become available, and therefore the totals on this page will change until final certification to the Secretary of State on November 25.

Write-in results will be posted on the Somerset County Clerk’s main site once they are tabulated.

Mail-in ballots that are damaged or filled out in ways that cannot be scanned by the Board of Elections have to be hand-tabulated, and ballots postmarked by 8 p.m. on November 5 and received by November 12 will also be processed.  Only then can provisional ballots be counted. 

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Mayor Singh told The Montgomery News, "I am deeply humbled and grateful for the wonderful support from Montgomery residents, we had a great turn out!

"We ran a positive, issues-focused campaign. I want to thank our amazing campaign team, special thanks to our team of over 30 youth volunteers who not only tirelessly canvassed with me but helped with voter registration, vote by mail registration. It will be my honor and privilege to continue to serve my community on the township committee."

Committeeman Ahn said, "Thank you, everyone, for coming out to vote. My focus is to represent everyone our community. Montgomery is an accepting town with residents who care about each other. I feel lucky to serve this township."