Incumbents Ann Roseman, Fred Stone and Carrie Ludwikowski won clear victories over three challengers.  (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

An unusually newsy Red Bank Board of Education election ended with the status quo Tuesday night as the incumbent slate swept to victory.

Led by Carrie Ludwikowski, who garnered 795 votes, the incumbent slate of Ann Roseman (712) and Frederick Stone (569) outpolled Richard Stout (536), Michael Clancy (493) and Irwin Katz, (464).

The race was marked by bizarre twists, including the presence on the ballot of a candidate — Clancy — who, by the terms of petition that got him there, didn’t belong there, though he dismissed its residency criteria as “unconstitutional.”

It also saw Katz angrily denounce  local Republicans for, in his view, co-opting him as their candidate. There were also accusations of undue partisanship.

The season ended with Clancy/Stout signs planted on the lawn of the board of ed office on Branch Avenue and in Stone’s front yard on McLaren Street.