Local government Plumsted Township is governed under the
Township form of New Jersey municipal government, one of 141 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form, the second-most commonly used form of government in the state. The Township Committee is comprised of five members, who are elected directly by the voters
at-large in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats coming up for election each year as part of the November general election. At an annual reorganization meeting held during the first week of January, the Township Committee selects one of its members to serve as Mayor and another as Deputy Mayor, and appoints from its members a liaison for each of the Township's administrative departments. , the members of the Plumsted Township Committee are
Mayor Robert W. Bowen (
R, term of office on committee and as mayor ends December 31, 2025),
Deputy mayor Herbert F. Marinari (R, term on committee ends 2026; term as deputy mayor ends 2025), Leonard A. Grilletto (R, 2026), James Hagelstein (R, 2027) and Thomas Potter (R, 2027). In February 2023, the township council selected Michael Hammerstone to fill the seat expiring in December 2024 that had been held by Thomas Calabrese. Hammerstone served on an interim basis until the November 2023 general election, when he was elected to serve the balance of the term of office. In the November 2019 general election, Grilletto was elected to serve the balance of the term of office. In November 2014, following the resignation of former mayor David Leutwyler, who accepted a position as the township's community development coordinator, the Township Committee selected Vince Lotito from three names recommended by the Republican municipal committee to fill the vacant seat on the committee and chose Jack Trotta to serve as mayor.
Federal, state and county representation Plumsted Township is located in the 4th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 12th state legislative district.
Politics As of March 2011, there were a total of 4,979 registered voters in Plumsted Township, of which 816 (16.4%) were registered as
Democrats, 1,537 (30.9%) were registered as
Republicans and 2,623 (52.7%) were registered as
Unaffiliated. There were 3 voters registered
Libertarians or
Greens. Among the township's 2010 Census population, 59.1% (vs. 63.2% in Ocean County) were registered to vote, including 80.1% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 82.6% countywide). In the
2012 presidential election, Republican
Mitt Romney received 59.3% of the vote (2,179 cast), ahead of Democrat
Barack Obama with 38.9% (1,428 votes), and other candidates with 1.8% (67 votes), among the 3,709 ballots cast by the township's 5,262 registered voters (35 ballots were
spoiled), for a turnout of 70.5%. In the
2008 presidential election, Republican
John McCain received 56.7% of the vote (2,192 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 40.7% (1,573 votes) and other candidates with 1.7% (65 votes), among the 3,865 ballots cast by the township's 5,176 registered voters, for a turnout of 74.7%. In the
2004 presidential election, Republican
George W. Bush received 63.2% of the vote (2,268 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat
John Kerry with 35.2% (1,264 votes) and other candidates with 0.9% (43 votes), among the 3,589 ballots cast by the township's 4,812 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 74.6. In the
2013 gubernatorial election, Republican
Chris Christie received 75.9% of the vote (1,828 cast), ahead of Democrat
Barbara Buono with 21.9% (528 votes), and other candidates with 2.1% (51 votes), among the 2,459 ballots cast by the township's 5,219 registered voters (52 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 47.1%. In the
2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 70.2% of the vote (1,917 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat
Jon Corzine with 22.5% (615 votes), Independent
Chris Daggett with 4.6% (125 votes) and other candidates with 1.6% (44 votes), among the 2,732 ballots cast by the township's 5,075 registered voters, yielding a 53.8% turnout. == Education ==