PETERSBURG — Incumbent Curtis Corson has won re-election to another term on Upper Township Committee, defeating challenger Jon K. Grubb 2,392 to 888, or 73% to 27%.
Corson, a farmer and business owner, has served on Township Committee for a quarter-century in two stints.
The 59-year-old has deep roots in the township and is one of the longest-serving members of Township Committee. He is a 13th-generation Upper Township resident, his children are 14th-generation and his grandson is the first of a 15th generation living in the township.
He has three children, two of whom still live in the township, and six grandchildren, four of whom live in the township.
His middle initial “T” is from Townsend, his grandmother’s family name, which means he is related to two of the founding families of Cape May County, among the earliest people of European descent to live in the northern part of the county, with two local inlets carrying those names.
In 2016, he was appointed to fill the unexpired term of committee member Jeffrey Pierson after Pierson was elected to the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders (now Board of Commissioners). Corson ran and won a full term in 2017. But he had spent 18 years on the committee before that, serving before any of the current members were elected.
Corson said he has lived in the township his entire life, with the exception of his stint in the military. He spent three years in the Army in the 1980s after graduating from Ocean City High School, spending most of his time in Germany.
He owns and operates a farm of more than 30 acres, as well as Seaville Self Storage. He is former owner of Plantation Campground and Heritage Links golf course.
Corson is a life member of the Seaville Volunteer Fire Company, a past trustee of the Seaville Church Cemetery, a trustee of the Strathmere United Methodist Church and the Cape May County Historical Society, as well as a past member and chairman of the Planning Board.
Corson said he would like to continue serving to see the redevelopment of the defunct B.L. England Generating Station property, as well as a sustainable shoreline and beach replenishment in Strathmere.
He believes his more than 25 years of experience, coupled with his years in business, make him a quality candidate. Top issues in the township include beach replenishment, the redevelopment project, taxes and offshore wind farms.
