The County Executive is elected directly by the voters to a term of four years, which begins on January 1. At the 2010 United States Census, the county's population was 365,513.[1] As of Election Day 2017 there were 233,860 registered voters in Mercer.[2]
There have been five county executives since the establishment of the office in 1975. The incumbent, Daniel J. Benson, took office in 2024 after being elected in November 2023.
History
In 1972, the State of New Jersey passed the Optional County Charter Law, which provides for four different manners in which a county could be governed: by an executive, an administrator, a board president or a county supervisor.[3] Mercer County voters in a 1974 referendum voted to establish the executive office.[4]
A court case between Mercer County's Executive and the Board of Chosen Freeholders in which the New Jersey Superior Court Law Division clarified interpretation as to the rights and responsibilities of the two branches of government was decided in 2001.[5]
Democrat Arthur Sypek Sr. (1917–2002) was the inaugural officeholder of the county executive. A resident of Lawrence Township, he had served in the U.S. Army during World War II, a real estate and insurance agent, member of the Lawrence Township Planning Board, and a Mercer County Freeholder for 16 years.[10]
In the 1975, Sypek defeated then-Trenton mayor Art Holland in the Democratic primary and S. Harry Sayen, the Mercer County Republican chairman, in the general election.[4] Sypek was defeated for re-election by Bill Mathesius in 1979 and died on April 23, 2002.[10]
Mathesius was appointed to the New Jersey Superior Court in 2002[13][14] and was briefly suspended in 2006 for comments regarding the death penalty.[15][16][17] In 2008, Governor Jon Corzine declined to reappoint him.[18] He last presided over a murder trial in which there were irregularities.[19]
Bob Prunetti
Republican Robert "Bob" Prunetti, served as executive from 1992 to 2004.
During his tenure Prunetti sued the Board of Chosen Freeholders in a case which led to a court interpretation as to the rights and responsibilities of the two branches of government.[5]
Prunetti was appointed by then-GovernorChris Christie to the Trenton's Capital City Redevelopment Corporation[21] He later become Chief of the MIDJersey Chamber of Commerce.[20]
Brian M. Hughes
Brian M. Hughes was first elected in November 2003. He was re-elected in 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019.[22][23]
Hughes previously served as Deputy Executive Director of the Governor's Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. In 1992 he made an unsuccessful bid to represent New Jersey's 4th congressional district in Congress.[25] In 1997, was elected to the Board of Chosen Freeholders and served two terms, including one as Freeholder President.[26]
In 2014, he was elected the first Vice President of the County Executives of America (CEA).[27]
^ abSullivan, Ronald (June 3, 1975). "Woodson's Fight for Renomination Highlights Primary Election Today". The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2020. The only other major contest in the state involves the Democratic nomination of a Mercer County Executive, a new office created by the voters in last year's referendum. The county race involves Arthur Sypek, the director of the County Board of chosen Freeholders and Mayor Arthur Holland a Trenton.
^ abRobert D. PRUNETTI, County Executive of Mercer County, Plaintiff, v. MERCER COUNTY BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS, Defendant (Superior Court of New Jersey,Law Division November 13, 2001) ("In 1972, the Legislature adopted the Optional County Charter Law, providing a county the opportunity to reorganize its form of government into one of four alternative forms: (i) the County Executive Plan; (ii) the County Manager Plan; (iii) the Board President Plan; or (iv) the County Supervisor Plan. See N.J.S.A. 40:41A-1 et seq. Six counties have elected to reorganize their governmental structure pursuant to the Optional Charter Act. They are respectively: Atlantic, Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Mercer and Union Counties. Five of these counties...have opted for the County Executive Plan."), Text.
^Rinde, Meir. "Explainer: What’s a Freeholder? NJ’s Unusual County Government System", NJ Spotlight, October 27, 2015. Accessed March 21, 2018. "Five counties -- Atlantic, Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Mercer -- opted for popularly elected county executives in addition to freeholder boards."
^Order Supplemeneting 2001-2002 General Assignment Order, New Jersey Judiciary, January 8, 2002. Accessed March 14, 2022. "It is ORDERED that effective upon the taking of oath, and until further Order, Superior Court Judge Wilbur H. Mathesius is hereby assigned to the Superior Court, Criminal Division, Mercer County (Vicinage 7)."
^IN RE: Wilbur H. MATHESIUS, a Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey. (Supreme Court of New Jersey November 30, 2006), Text.
