LaPlaca says she’s sitting out Election Day, blasts fellow Democrats

Lumberton Committeewoman Gina LaPlaca, who lost her Democratic primary after pleading guilty to child endangerment and later faced election fraud charges, says she won’t vote today, accusing fellow elected officials of incompetence and hypocrisy.

“I have a confession to make.  I’m not voting today,” LaPlaca wrote on Facebook, saying she had participated in every election since turning 18.

The former mayor said uncompetitive races and disillusionment with people she knows personally had persuaded her to stay home.

“With a couple of rare exceptions we are governed by incompetence, egotism and blind loyalty to party bosses,” she wrote.

LaPlaca claimed unnamed officials carry personal and professional baggage worse than hers but escape scrutiny because the political system protects them.

“If this sounds bitter, maybe it is,” she wrote.

Her announcement follows a series of criminal cases that derailed her political career.

In August, Burlington County prosecutors charged LaPlaca and her estranged husband, political operative Jason Carty, with submitting fraudulent signatures on her nominating petition. Prosecutors said several purported signers denied signing or authorizing their signatures, and that she lacked enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.  Her charges include knowingly filing a false petition, making a false statement under oath, and tampering with records.

LaPlaca also pleaded guilty to child endangerment after driving drunk with her young son in the car in March 2025.  Police reported her blood alcohol level was nearly four times the legal limit. A judge terminated her participation in pretrial intervention in September. She lost June’s primary by roughly 3-to-1.

Despite declining to vote, LaPlaca singled out two Democrats she would support: U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and Burlington County Commissioner candidate Jonathan Chebra.