Two candidates drop out of SOMA BOE election

SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The number of candidates for the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education race has dwindled from 11 to nine. Avery Julien and James Wilkes told the News-Record that they are no longer seeking election, though their names will remain on the ballot.

Julien, a sophomore at Rutgers University, did not respond to inquiries about why he had withdrawn from the election. Wilkes told the News-Record he was withdrawing because he “wasn’t able to secure the necessary approval from my employer’s compliance department.”

As of press time, this leaves nine candidates vying for three open Board of Education seats: incumbent Annemarie Maini, and challengers Narda Chisholm-Greene, Michael Laskowski, Bruno Navarro, Christopher Trzaska, Shannon Cuttle, Felisha George, Javier Farfan and Marian Cutler.

  Maplewood Election, SOMA Board of Education, South Orange Election