The status quo

“In a predominantly Democratic town the people of Middlesex are getting fed up with the status quo. Our taxes are high relative to other towns in our peer group and our level of services received is not in balance with the amount of resources we as taxpayers put in for them. We need change in Middlesex and the Middlesex Republicans must be agents for positive change.”

So reads “The Message from our Chairman” on the Borough of Middlesex Republican Organization’s website. The message sits on the home page, right beneath an ad for an upcoming GOP fundraiser.

Yes, Middlesex has more registered Democratic voters than Republicans. The last time Inside – Middlesex checked the official tally was in mid-2024. At that point, the numbers stood: Democrat – 3,380; Republican – 2,718; Unaffiliated – 4,204.

Some borough taxpayers might be getting “fed up with the status quo,” although there is seldom a discouraging word spoken from the audience at Borough Council meetings. The powers-that-be no longer carry a “D” next to their name as they did when that several-years-old message was first posted on the Republican website a chairman or two ago. Republicans have held the majority on the Borough Council since 2019. The current year of 2026 marks the seventh straight that the GOP has held all six council seats plus the mayoralty.

If taxes are considered too high compared to similar towns, if the level of services received is not commensurate with the amount taxpayers pay, as the BMRO website claims, then Republicans are the ones responsible.

Of course, the GOP does not really believe that. The chairman’s message is the product of an outdated website and a lack of political competiton over a period of years. Middlesex Republicans have been largely unchallenged as the town’s ruling party since “The Indictment” of December 2019. If a political party doesn’t change its home page message for several years, it suggests that its active members don’t believe that voters will even notice.

This is not the first time town leaders have taken a skeptical attitude toward voters’ attention spans. Roughly a decade ago, Middlesex Borough Democrats mailed out pretty much the same campaign literature year after year. At the time, Dems controlled the council and it appeared that would continue into the foreseeable future. 

The mailings’ graphics were similar across a few consecutive years, the points made were similar, what the candidates supposedly stood for was similar. The same stock photo of a Stacey Keach look-alike firefighter even made more than one appearance.

Middlesex Borough’s respective Republican and Democratic parties battle it out at the ballot box for the right to govern, but they appear to agree on one thing, at least from time to time. The town’s voters aren’t paying close attention.

The BMRO’s fundraiser ad mentions that Council President Michael Conahan and Councilman Kevin Dotey will be the 2026 GOP ticket. Two, three-year council seats will be decided by voters this year.

Middlesex once had a Democratic mayor who served for 26 consecutive years, left the governing body for a bit, then served another four-year term. Thirty years of the same mayor. During that era, Middlesex carried the reputation of being a “Democratic town.” Perhaps that was a big-time misread. A town that elects the same mayor for three decades, isn’t really a progressive place. That screams conservative and a preference for the same-old, same-old.

Some might argue there are benefits to lengthy continuity on a governing body. Others might fear stagnation and consequences such as not revaluing property assessments for nearly 40 years.

The question of when is it time to exit the stage, confronts voters again this year. Dotey is completing his third, three-year council term. The terms were not consecutive, but total nine years in all.

Two of those terms – won in 2012 and then in 2016 – were as a Democrat. Perhaps he read the town’s political tea leaves. Dotey flipped to the Republican Party before running and winning again in 2023. The GOP slate was unchallenged that year, as the town’s Democratic Party was still picking up the pieces from a corrupt former mayor.

So now, the town’s GOP asks voters to give Dotey a fourth term. If successful, and the fourth term were served out, that would be 12 years as a councilman. Local Republicans welcomed the three-term councilman back to the 2026 campaign trail by misspelling his first name as “Keven” in the graphic accompanying the fundraiser ad. Dotey serves as the BMRO’s vice chairman, according to the GOP website.

Just as easily as someone might change a shirt, Dotey exchanged one party for the other. Isn’t someone’s party affiliation supposed to be about their core beliefs and governing values and not political expediency? After being sworn-in for his current term in January 2024, Dotey said it would be his finale. Don’t take our word for it, read the meeting minutes.

The question of how long is too long, isn’t really about any one official. It’s about a rotation of fresh ideas and honoring the concept of term limits. Those limits are applicable, by law, to some elected offices but not others.

The president of the United States can only serve two terms. New Jersey’s governor can serve two consecutive terms and would have to then sit out at least four years, before possibly running again. The Garden State’s elected municipal officials have no such constraints.

For anyone to serve 12 years on the Middlesex Borough Council, suggests there is no one else, from either party, capable of serving the community in that role. It’s hard to believe that’s true in a town with 10,000+ registered voters.

The Democrats haven’t yet announced their candidates. Last year, Democrat Vincent Rouse came within 58 votes of winning a council seat. A political newcomer, Rouse was likely helped by growing anti-Trump voter sentiment and now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s win in Middlesex Borough.

Privately, some Middlesex Republicans acknowledge Rouse’s showing has the local GOP worried about 2026. Polls suggest Democrats will have a good year nationally in November. Is Dotey the only local Republican – aside from current GOP chairman Conahan – willing to attempt a trend-defying victory?

The current all-Republican mayor and council speak of being proactive and moving away from the past. Changes have occurred since 2019. Their party’s outdated website, however, sends a different message. So too, does the decision to put forward a candidate who could end up serving a decade-plus on the Borough Council. In some ways, the political status quo lives on in Middlesex.

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