Fanucci will seek re-election as Vineland mayor

Saying that continuity of leadership during the coronavirus is critical, Vineland Mayor Anthony Fanucci has announced that he will seek re-election to a second term as mayor.

“When I first ran for Mayor, I promised we were not going to wait for the phone to ring, and we haven’t,” said Fanucci.  “Together we have vigorously engaged with the community to find solutions to issues which have been ignored in the past, while breaking-down barriers that made it difficult for Vineland to aggressively move forward.”

He has no announced opponent yet in his bid to remain mayor of New Jersey’s 24th largest municipality.

Fanucci was elected in 2016, ousting incumbent Ruben Bermudez by a 51.5%-31% margin in a three candidate field.  He led former mayor Robert Romano by 4,409 votes, with Bermudez (18.5%) finishing in third place, 2,842 votes behind Romano.

The mayor said that the five incumbent members of the city council will seek re-election on his slate: David Acosta, Elizabeth Arthur, Ron Franceschini, Paul Spinelli, and Albert Vargas.

Arthur is seeking her first full-term.  She was appointed last year after Angela Calakos resigned and moved out of Vineland.

“The next four years will be critical to sustaining the progress we have made and to implementing the necessary long-term policies to secure a prosperous future for the city,” the mayor said.

Vineland municipal elections are non-partisan, but Fanucci is a Republican who endorsed Michael Testa, Jr. for State Senate in 2019 in his upset win over Democrat Bob Andrzejczak (D-Middle).

Of the state’s 25 largest municipalities, just five have GOP mayors: James Anzaldi of Clifton and Fanucci win non-partisan races; Mo Hill of Toms River, Tony Perry of Middletown, and Owen Henry of Old Bridge are elected as Republicans.

“We have marketed our assets to a national audience, which has brought recognition, new development to grow our tax base, and jobs,” Fanucci said.  “We have instituted a multi-year budgeting process with detailed revenue estimates and expenditure projections across several fiscal years which has allowed us to rebuild our surplus and address long-delayed road projects and other infrastructure improvements.”