Shuffle continues in 23rd District

Hunterdon County residents voted Tuesday to keep Republican incumbents Matt Holt and Ron Sworen on the county freeholder board, but will get a new freeholder next year anyway, as Freeholder Erik Peterson moves to the state Assembly.

Peterson was elected to the Assembly, representing the 23rd District along with incumbent Republican John DiMaio. That means Peterson's spot on the county freeholder board will be vacant as of January.

In December or January, members of the county Republican committee are expected to hold a convention to choose a replacement for Peterson.

The GOP county committee is composed of one man and one woman from each district.

Hampton Mayor Rob Walton has been frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for the freeholder position.

All this upward movement in the 23rd Legislative District is the result of Hunterdon native Leonard Lance's move from state Senate to the U.S. House of Representatives at the beginning of this year, creating a ripple effect across the GOP pool.

In January, Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow of Hunterdon was chosen to fill Lance's state Senate seat -- over Assemblyman Michael Doherty of Warren County -- by Republican county committee members from the two counties.

But then in June, Doherty turned the tables on Karrow in the GOP primary, securing the party's nomination for the state Senate seat in the general election.

On Tuesday, he won that seat in one of two special elections for the Senate, garnering about 70 percent of the vote in the 23rd district to easily beat Democrat Harvey Baron.

Once Doherty is sworn in -- sometime in January 2010 -- his Assembly seat will be vacated, and Peterson can take his place.