What You Need to Know About the Election

Halloween kicked off a crazy week in Washington Township, and we’ve been forced to miss a few things (see: power outages, roads closed, schools out).

One of those events we missed was the Washington Township Committee Candidates Debate originally, scheduled for that Tuesday at the library.

So, since we couldn’t have that happen, we thought it would be easiest to share these things about the candidates and the upcoming election on Nov. 8:

You Need to Know About Your Republican Candidate: His name is Tracy Tobin, and he defeated Chris Henwood in the June Primary Election to be put on the ballot in November. Tobin spent 27 years on the township committee previously. To learn more about him, .

You Need to Know About Your Democratic Candidate: His name is Joseph Keyes, and he garnered enough write-in votes in June to be put on the November ballot. This is Keyes first foray into politics. To learn more about him, .

You Need to Know Where to Vote: Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8. Polls in Washington Township are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and there are eight voting centers serving 13 districts in the municipality. To find out where they are,

You Need to Know You Don't Have to Wait: Can't make it to the polls Tuesday? In-person voting is underway in the . In-person voting is available from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5, and from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 7. A registered voter does not have to give a reason for his or her in-person vote. The Morris County Clerk's Office is on the first floor of the Administration and Records Building on Court Street in Morristown.

You Need to Know About Some Issues: Both candidates have spoken at length with Long Valley Patch regarding various issues going on in Washington Township. We’ve broken them down into three separate stories. The first, regarding severe weather response, . The second, where the candidates responded to shared services in town, . And the last one, about the town’s standing with the Highlands Act, can be read here.

You Need to Know About Blogs: Both candidates have been writing and posting blogs for Long Valley Patch since August, sharing their thoughts on various issues in town. To read Joe Keyes’ blog, click here. To read Tracy Tobin’s, click here.

You Need to Know What's Up With Local Political Organizations: Patch recently took in-depth looks at the changing faces of the Morris County Republican and Democratic parties. Both see independents as a force. Both see impacts from larger-than-local-politics leaders like President Obama and Gov. Christie.

You Need to Know You're in the 25th District: This year's redistricting process put Washington Township in the 25th Legislative District, meaning it's got a new slate of state Senate and Assembly candidates to consider.

State Senator . , the senator's son, also Republican and also named Anthony Bucco, will seek to return to his seat, as will fellow incumbent Republican Michael Patrick Carroll. On the Democratic side, George Stafford and Gale Heiss Colucci are hoping for upsets.

The district, though recently reconfigured, is traditionally considered strong Republican territory.

You Need to Know Who the Freeholder Candidates Are: left the incumbent as the GOP's candidate, the race for a Morris County Freeholder seat pits Republican Margaret Nordstrom of Long Valley against Truscha Quatrone of Montville. .

You Need to Know How You Can Really Sink Your Teeth into Local Election Coverage: Check out our full voter guide, with all our election-themed coverage from this past year, here.