Brian D. Levine
Brian D. Levine is a Republican politician from Franklin Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, who has served on the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders since 2015, prior to which he had served as mayor of Franklin Township a community with more than 60,000 residents.
Levine had been elected to the Franklin Township mayoralty three times, in a municipality with a heavy Democratic advantage in voter registration. A large majority of the Township Council, which includes the mayor as its chairman, is Democratic, with Levine often serving as the sole Republican.
Levine, a Certified Public Accountant, was first elected mayor in 2003 and was re-elected in 2007[1] and 2011. He held a Township Council seat prior to his election as mayor. Levine is the first and so far the only directly elected mayor in the history of Franklin Township, which previously had a mayor chosen from among the other Township Council members. The mayor's duties, under the council-manager form of government, are primarily to lead the legislative branch of the local government, the Township Council, while the appointed township manager is the community's chief executive officer.
In 2009, Levine was briefly a long-shot candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey. He was removed from the ballot along with two other candidates when it was determined that the candidates had an insufficient number of valid signatures on their nominating petitions.[2] He later endorsed Chris Christie, who went on to win the Republican primary and election as Governor.[3]
In 2013, Levine was the Republican nominee for the New Jersey State Senate seat in the heavily Democratic 17th Legislative District. On November 5, 2013, he was defeated by incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Smith.
In September 2014, after Robert Zaborowski, the incumbent Republican nominee for Freeholder, withdrew from the race, Levine was selected to fill that spot on the ballot. Somerset County is heavily Republican, and members of that party have held all seats on Board of Freeholders for at least 30 years. In the November 2014 general election, Levine and his Republican running mate Peter S. Palmer were elected to three-year terms of office.[4]
Levine and his wife, Dr. Lori B. Goldblatt, have two children.
References
- ↑ http://www.politickernj.com/max/25423/franklin-mayor-considers-bid-governor
- ↑ http://www.politickernj.com/max/29029/levine-brown-campaigns-jeopardy-after-lonegan-lawyer-challenges-petition-signatures
- ↑ http://www.politickernj.com/matt-friedman/29545/christie-and-levine-team-go-after-lonegan
- ↑ Hutchinson, Dave. "Somerset County Republican Freeholders win big, Democratics 'shellshocked'", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, November 4, 2014. Accessed February 2, 2015. "Republican incumbent Peter S. Palmer and newcomer Brian D. Levine, the former Franklin Township mayor who is running to fill the seat held by longtime Republican Freeholder Robert Zaborowski, appeared to handily defeat Democrat challengers Anthony Pranzatelli and Joan Pritchard."
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