Voice Your Choice: Witherspoon, Soto, Thompson Hope to Make History in Final Days of Hamilton Township Race
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BY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP – It is down to the final weeks of the 2025 general election with early voting starting this week, and the team of Dr. Thelma Witherspoon, Yvette Soto and Tracy Thompson are out to make history.
The three are trying to flip the Hamilton Township Committee, politically and demographically. The five-member board, which has long been dominated by White males, would become controlled by minority females, all Democrats, if all three are elected.
Each has lived in Hamilton Township for nearly two decades and they are hoping their run will resonate with the growing and influential suburban Atlantic County municipality.
Witherspoon made history in 2023, becoming the first Black woman to win a seat on the board after just missing out on a spot on the Atlantic County Board of Commissioners. Witherspoon is running for re-election with Yvette Soto, the founder of the Latin Music Festival and longtime community activist.
The two are running against incumbent Carl Pitale and Jerry Nelson, who was named to the committee to replace Robert Laws. Laws left the board this year to become city administrator in Pleasantville.
Thompson, a local businesswoman, joined the ticket in the summer, when she started her campaign to fill Law’s unexpired term against Republican Mary Jo Couts.
“People have been very positive and welcoming,” Soto told Front Runner New Jersey about campaigning throughout Hamilton Township. “They have been giving us a lot of suggestions of changes that are needed such as senior services and youth services, along with services for the whole community and families, which are part of our platform.”
The demographics in the township have changed over the past 20 years. Hamilton Township is a sprawling municipality that covers 112.94 square miles, the largest in New Jersey, and includes Mays Landing, McKee City and Mizpah.
According to Statistical Atlas, Whites made up 75% of the population in 2005, nearly 65% today. The Hispanic population has more than doubled from 8% to nearly 20%, while the Black population has grown from 11% to 13%. Those who claim more than one race, have tripled from 3% to nearly 10%.
“If we were to be successful, this would be the most diverse board in the history of Hamilton Township,” said Witherspoon, who broke the glass ceiling for minority women in the township three years ago. “In this final stretch of the campaign, we’re doing what we’ve been doing – knocking on doors, canvassing, making phone calls and being visible.
“We’ve been going to township meetings and doing everything we can to get the vote out.”
Thompson said she noticed on the campaign trail how receptive the community has been especially from women regardless of ethnicity. She said that appeared to spark an interest and excitement from the residents that they have met that three women were running for the committee.
One event the three said that appeared to have caught the attention of individuals was a citywide Easter Egg Hunt they organized in April with their own money, even though they received pushback from some city officials.
“I’m glad we had push back,” Witherspoon said about the event at Gaskill Park. “Everything happens for a reason. It pushed us to be more creative. We opened it up to everyone because we wanted to be inclusive. It was good thing for us that it happened that way.”
The positive feelings that were generated from that event have continued through their continued interaction with potential voters, they said.
Some of the things the women said they want to move forward on are a much-needed senior center, additional programing and activities for youth, upgrading family community services and the addressing the growing homelessness problem.
“There are people living in tents near Walmart,” Witherspoon said. She said work being done by the township is the first step in addressing the issue.
“Anybody can be homeless,” Witherspoon said. “Any of us are one of two paychecks from being homeless. A lot of it right now is mental illness. You still have people who are struggling.”
The township is growing with a planned massive Amazon warehouse at the old Atlantic County Racecourse expected to give the area an economic boost.
Soto and Thompson praised Witherspoon for putting their team together and they hope the historic run will result in a more inclusive growth for the township. Soto said Witherspoon was instrumental in helping the township celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month this year.
“If it wasn’t for her vision and leadership, we wouldn’t be here,” Soto said.
With less than two weeks left in the race, the three are hoping that voters feel positively about their run as well.
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