The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission filed complaints Monday against 78 candidates who ran in the 2025 primary elections, opening enforcement cases against four Assembly candidates, four mayoral candidates and 70 candidates for municipal office.
The complaints, released more than 14 months after the June 2025 primary, involve candidates from across the state, including incumbents, unsuccessful challengers and local officeholders who won election despite pending or previous legal problems.
Among them is Prospect Park Councilman Anand Shah, who won re-election last year while facing an indictment in connection with an alleged illegal gambling operation authorities have linked to the Lucchese crime family.
Shah was arrested in April 2025 on racketeering, gambling, money laundering, and conspiracy charges. Despite those allegations, he remained on the ballot and won another term on the Borough Council.
The ELEC complaint against Shah concerns his 2025 primary campaign. The commission’s publicly searchable index does not describe the specific allegations against him or the other candidates; those details appear in separate complaint documents.
An analysis of election results and municipal records identified at least 23 complaint recipients who won the offices they sought. The remaining candidates either lost, withdrew, sought different offices or could not immediately be matched conclusively with election results.
The list also includes Rockleigh Councilman David Hansen, whose previous encounter with ELEC became an example of how New Jersey’s campaign-finance rules can ensnare candidates who raise little or no money.
Hansen was fined $275 in 2024 after filing a sworn statement for his 2022 general election campaign 428 days late. He had run unopposed in the tiny Bergen County community and won with 72 votes.
Hansen won another term in 2025 and now faces a new complaint related to that year’s primary.
The four Assembly candidates named in the complaints are Lisa Bonanno and Bruce Weekes, who ran in the 2nd legislative district; Michael Mancuso, who ran in the 26th district; and Donald Bonomo, who ran in the 38th district.
Bonanno and Weekes were unsuccessful candidates in a competitive Atlantic County Democratic primary. Weekes, a former Atlantic City councilman, finished just 36 votes behind Pleasantville Councilwoman Joanne Famularo in the race for the second Assembly nomination.
Bonanno, a Linwood school board member, finished fourth. Both candidates had run on a slate aligned with then-gubernatorial candidate Steve Fulop.
Mancuso won the Democratic nomination in the heavily Republican 26th district but lost the general election. Bonomo also did not win an Assembly seat.
The mayoral candidates named in the complaints are Naeem Ahmed Khan and Robert McDevitt of Atlantic City, Gloria Dittman of Edison, and Sydney Ferreira of Kearny.
None won the mayoral offices associated with their complaints.
Dittman won the Republican nomination for Edison mayor but later dropped out and ran unsuccessfully for township council. Ferreira lost the Kearny mayoral election to incumbent Carol Jean Doyle.
Among successful municipal candidates facing complaints are Dumont Councilwoman Doreen Aponte; Wallington council members Beata Balik and Susanne Preinfalk; Middlesex Borough council members Jennifer Clock and Shannon Quinn; and Willingboro Councilwoman Rebecca Perrone.
Other winners include Fieldsboro Councilwoman Rosemarie Weaver, Fair Haven Councilwoman Christina Malecki, Englishtown Councilman Brenden Sharkey, Manasquan Councilman Gregg Olivera, Frankford Township Committeeman Nicholas Civitan and Andover Borough Councilman Randolph Mallon.
Waterford Township Committeeman Edward Yucis, Boonton Councilman John Meehan, Florham Park Councilwoman Kristen Santoro, Wharton Councilwoman Marisa Gonzalez, Manville Councilman Ronald Skirkanish, and Long Hill Township Committeeman Victor Verlezza also won their races.
Deerfield Township Committeeman Brian Casper, Newfield Councilman Thomas Corwonski and Somers Point Councilwoman Susannah Slaughter likewise obtained office following the 2025 election.
The complaints also reach unsuccessful candidates in Bergen, Burlington, Essex, Middlesex and Monmouth counties.
In Caldwell, Democratic council candidates Gerald Cardillo and Jonathan Sagalow lost to Republican incumbents. In Paramus, Peter Caminiti and Michelle Durrenberger were defeated, while Louis Casale lost in Hillsdale and James Kontolios lost in Ridgefield.
In Fair Haven, Harold Baker lost a close council race while Malecki, another complaint recipient, won.
New Jersey requires candidates to file campaign-finance reports or, when eligible, a sworn statement indicating that their campaigns fall below applicable fundraising and spending thresholds.
Those obligations can apply even when candidates run unopposed, lose badly, spend little money or never advance beyond the primary election.
Under state regulations, campaign-finance reporting violations can carry penalties of up to $11,600 for a first offense and $24,000 for subsequent offenses. Separate reporting failures can result in separate violations.
However, the maximum penalties do not necessarily reflect what candidates would ultimately pay. ELEC frequently resolves routine late-filing cases involving sworn statements with fines of several hundred dollars, including penalties of $275 to $475.
The complaints released Monday are allegations, not final findings, and the commission’s index does not indicate whether any candidate has been assessed a penalty.