By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
MAYS LANDING — One of two local candidates for the Atlantic County Board of Chosen Freeholders was ahead in the race for two at-large seats as of Saturday, Nov. 7.
Incumbent Caren Fitzpatrick, a Democrat who is wrapping up her first term in office, received the second-most votes among the four people vying for the seats.
Meanwhile, Somers Point City Councilman Jim Toto, who chose not to seek re-election in the city to focus on his run for freeholder, appears to have lost his race, receiving the fewest votes of the four candidates.
The count was 63,125 for Fitzpatrick, 63,264 for Republican incumbent John Risley Jr. of Egg Harbor Township, 61,566 for Celeste Fernandez of Pleasantville and 61,477 for Toto.
Those results have not been certified and provisional ballots still to be counted could change the outcome.
Fitzpatrick, 61, lived in Pleasantville and Somers Point before moving to Linwood in 2013. She is a graduate of Mainland Regional High School and later earned an AAS degree in accounting from Atlantic Cape Community College, a bachelor’s degree in administration from Thomas Edison State College and a master’s degree in business administration from Stockton University.
She currently is director of finance and administration at Meet AC Inc., the sales and marketing force that supports the Atlantic City Convention Center. She has worked in finance for more than 20 years in both for-profit and nonprofit organizations, gaining experience in budgeting, forecasting and fiscal responsibility.