Evesham Democrats will defend their majority in Burlington County’s most populous town for the first time since wrestling away the majority in 2018. Mayor Jackie Veasy, Deputy Mayor Heather Cooper and Councilwoman Pat Hansen were part of the blue wave that included Andy Kim and Burlington County Democrats solidifying control of the Board of County Commissioners. This will be the first time a political party had to defend a super majority since Evesham switched to November partisan elections in 2010.

After winning by 5 points in 2018, followed by a win in a three-way race for two more council seats in 2020, Democrats are poised for another strong campaign. Evesham’s current Council boasts one of the most diverse in South Jersey with a female majority in addition to two members of LGBTQ community.

In the Republican column will be some familiar names to Evesham politics.

Dennis Mehigan, a current a member of the Evesham School Board and Chief Administrative Officer at a Pennsylvania law firm, is running for Mayor.

Bonnie Olt and Anthony Quitugua are running for seats on Town Council. Olt is a member of the Lenape Regional Board of Education and a former Evesham Councilwoman who was unseated in the May 2007 nonpartisan election. Quitugua is a veteran who moved to Evesham after being assigned to Joint Base MDL and currently serves as President of the Evesham Republican Club.

Close elections at the municipal level have become the norm in Evesham despite up-ballot margins. In 2020 Biden won Evesham by 13 points in 2020 while in 2021 Murphy only won the town by 2 points. In the 2021 LD8 race Addiego won by 6 points and her Assembly running mates bested the republicans by 4 points. In the 2018 and 2020 the Evesham municipal elections were all decided by 5 points or less despite the up-ballot advantages.

One notable factor is Congressman Andy Kim who is popular in the municipality. Kim will no doubt have boots on the ground in one of Burl Co’s largest towns trying to repeat his 2020 18-point victory there.

Keep an eye on Evesham as it could be the most watched race in Burlington where County GOP Chairman Sean Earlen has struggled to protect seats at the County or Municipal level so this could be the bellwether for the future of his party. On the Democrat side Deputy Mayor Heather Cooper also serves as Vice Chair of the County Democratic Party so Evesham will without a doubt be Burlington County’s top prize of the 2022 cycle.