The

County Executive A county executive, county manager or county mayor is the head of the executive branch of government in a United States county. The executive may be an elected or an appointed position. When elected, the executive typically functions either as a ...

of Mercer County, New Jersey, United States is the chief officer of the county's executive branch. The executive oversees the administration of county government and works in conjunction with Board of County Commissioners, which acts in a legislative role. The

New Jersey Superior Court The Superior Court is the state court in the U.S. state of New Jersey, with statewide trial and appellate jurisdiction. The New Jersey Constitution of 1947 establishes the power of the New Jersey courts.Jeffrey S. Mandel, New Jersey Appellate Pr ...

had subsumed and replaced county courts in 1983. The office of the County Executive is in the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

and

state capital Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital cities. National capitals *List of national capitals * List of national capitals by latitude *List of national capitals by population * List of national capitals by area * List of capital c ...

, Trenton. The

is elected directly by the voters to a term of four years, which begins on January 1. At the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

, the county's population was 365,513.DP1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data for Hudson County, New Jersey
,

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

. Accessed January 21, 2013. As of Election Day 2017 there were 233,860 registered voters in Mercer. There have been four county executives since the establishment of the office in 1975. The incumbent, Brian M. Hughes, took office in 2004 and has been re-elected to four subsequent terms; the last election took place in November 2019.

History

In 1972, the State of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

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 A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...

. Mercer County voters in a 1974 referendum voted to establish the executive office. A court case between Mercer County's Executive and the Board of Chosen Freeholders in which the

Law Division clarified interpretation as to the rights and responsibilities of the two branches of government was decided in 2001. Mercer is one of the five of 21 counties of

with a popularly-elected county executive, the others being

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, and Hudson.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." There have been four county executives since the establishment of the office.

Elections

County executives

Arthur Sypek Sr.

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

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 The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, a real estate and insurance agent, member of the Lawrence Township Planning Board, and a Mercer County Freeholder for 16 years. 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. Sypek was defeated for re-election by Bill Mathesius in 1979 and died on April 23, 2002.

Bill Mathesius

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Wilbur H. "Bill" Mathesius, from Hopewell Township, served three terms from 1980 to 1991. He was referred as "Wild Bill" during a political career that included stints as Assistant

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

and

county prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

. Mathesius was appointed to the

in 2002 and was briefly suspended in 2006 for comments regarding the death penalty. In 2008, Governor

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...

declined to reappoint him. He last presided over a murder trial in which there were irregularities.

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 an court interpretation as to the rights and responsibilities of the two branches of government. As county chief, he collaborated with City of Trenton to develop what became known as the Sun National Bank Center. Prunetti was appointed by then-

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in N ...

to the Trenton's Capital City Redevelopment Corporation He later become Chief of the MIDJersey Chamber of Commerce.

Brian M. Hughes

Brian M. Hughes was first elected in November 2003. He was re-elected in 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019. Hughes is a graduate of

Thomas Edison State College Thomas Edison State University (TESU) is a public university in Trenton, New Jersey. The university is one of New Jersey's 11 senior public institutions of higher education. Thomas Edison State University offers degrees at the undergraduate and ...

and a resident of

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

. He is a member of the notable Hughes-Murphy political family. His father was two-term

New Jersey Governor The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

and

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging th ...

Chief Justice

Richard J. Hughes Richard Joseph Hughes (August 10, 1909December 7, 1992) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. A Democrat, he served as the 45th governor of New Jersey from 1962 to 1970, and as Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1973 to ...

. His brother, John Hughes, is a serving federal magistrate. His half-brother, Michael Murphy, is an influential lobbyist, former county prosecutor and a 1997 candidate for governor. His sister-in-law is a Superior Court judge. 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 New Jersey's 4th congressional district is a congressional district that stretches along the New Jersey Shore. It has been represented by Republican Chris Smith since 1981, the second-longest currently serving member of the US House of Represe ...

in Congress. In 1997, was elected to the Board of Chosen Freeholders and served two terms, including one as Freeholder President. In 2014, he was elected the first Vice President of the County Executives of America (CEA).

References

{{Mercer County, New Jersey Government County government in New Jersey