Republicans Katie Cericola and Michael Ritchie will seek two borough council seats in Waldwick with the support of Mayor Tom Giordano.
Waldwick had one of the closest local elections of 2018, when Democrat Nicole McNamara eked out a narrow victory to become the lone Democrat on the council.
Republican incumbent Joseph Oravetz, who capture the second seat three years ago after outpolling his running mate by 10 votes, is not seeking re-election.
The 26-year-old Cericola is viewed as a rising star in Bergen County politics. She ran for freeholder two years ago and is active in the county Young Republicans.
In her run for freeholder, Cericola was the top vote-getter. She outpolled the Democratic incumbents locally by nearly 400 votes.
“These two candidates are exactly what Waldwick needs,” Tom Giordano, “The perfect combination of new ideas and strong experience.”
McNamara has not yet announced if she will seek re-election.
Waldwick is a Republican stronghold – in addition to Giordano, the GOP has a 5-1 majority on the council – but Joe Biden carried the borough by a 51%-48% margin over Donald Trump last year.