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The upcoming primary elections in Edison in the 27th district, on June 2 pit incumbent Committeeman Vincent Guarino against Congregation Beth-El Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg.

Guarino, who has lived in Edison for 41 years, has served as the committeeman for the past three decades. Guarino said he loves Edison and by serving as the committeeman he is able to listen to the needs of the citizens and let the administration know what the people of the town want and need.

"You are the communication between your constituents and your administration," Guarino said. "I enjoy working with the committee."

Throughout his time as committeeman, Guarino said he has always been attentive to the community's needs. He said he has been able to accomplish what set out to do, which included getting streets paved and preventing lights from being put on North Eighth Ave.

"So not only did we work to bring things in, but we worked to keep things out," he said.

Throughout his three-plus decades in serving as committeeman, Guarino said he never let his ego take over. He was always respectful of his superiors in the administration and never overstepped his boundaries, he said.

"I like what [Mayor] Jun Choi is doing," Guarino said. "I think he's more of a reformer than a politician."

Guarino, who is currently retired, taught social studies in the Edison school system for 41 years. Also, he is currently teaching fencing and karate. For the past four years, he has had the privilege to teach fencing to a girl named Stephanie, who is blind, he said.

"A lot of people are good people and they hope to do something good and here I have an opportunity," he said. "It makes me feel good."

In Edison, Guarino said he is the "Shabbos goy." If a light or oven was left on or anything an observant Jew couldn't do on Shabbat Guarino would lend a helping hand, he said.

"I don't mind not at all," he said. "In fact on two occasions I took a neighbor to the hospital because she was in labor."

Ultimately, the town of Edison can thrive if the citizens support the mayor and the administration, he said. Mayor Choi gets criticized a great deal, but he's determined and hardworking, he added.

"At times when you hear all the criticism, Jun Choi is in deep water, but he's a great swimmer," Guarino said.

Rabbi Israel Rivkin, who has worked with Guarino throughout the years said he is pleasant, hard working, determined, and a leader in the community that has brought change. Whenever anyone in the community has needed a helping hand Guarino has been there, he said.

"Vincent is an absolute mensch," Choi added.

Rosenberg, a resident of Edison for 20 years and the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth-El, has been vocal in his opposition to the current administration. There needs to be a change in administration in order for the town to be successful, he said.

This is his second attempt in running for committeeman, he said. Many years ago, he decided to run because of the issue of the local schools staying open on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

"I thought it was very important to have a Jewish person inside the political network fighting on behalf of Jews," said.

He said he quickly rescinded his intentions to campaign because people from the opposition were harassing his shul and making prank phone calls to his house. He said he told Guarino he wouldn't run a campaign as long as he personally was not attacked.

"But they did go after me," he said. "So, the last week I did run a campaign."

Rosenberg is furious with not only how he and his family were treated when he previously ran, but with the current administration, he said. Therefore, when he decided to run this time around he wouldn't let anything get in his way, he said.

"I'm fighting hard, but I'm constantly getting letters into the community either from Rivkin or from his Kehilla basically saying vote for his people," Rosenberg said.

One major problem he faces is the fact that his shul is not in his district, he said. Therefore Rosenberg said he loses many votes.

"I live in District 27, so the irony is if I lived next to my synagogue I would be a shoe-in," he said.

If elected, he hopes to continue what he has been doing in Edison, he said. In the past he helped install a fence around Schenkmeyer Park and put new equipment there, he helped bring undercover surveillance when there were problems in the neighborhood, and served as chaplain to the police and fire departments in Edison for 12 years. Rosenberg said Antonia Ricigliano, who is running against Choi for mayor, would serve the Jewish community well.

Rosenberg is currently a public speaking teacher at Rutgers University and Yeshiva University and taught at Moshe Aaron Yeshiva High School for 12 years. All four of his children attended Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva, Edison, three attended MAYHS, one attended Kushner Academy, two graduated from Yeshiva University, and one is currently in Israel.

"Bottom line is I'm very much a part of this community, I've been here 20 years, my kids grew up here," he said. "Right now you've got a council with 4-3, which means whatever the mayor wants the mayor gets."

Tom Lankey, a senior vice president at JFK Medical Center who is running for Township Council, said Rosenberg is dedicated, hardworking, and will do anything that the community needs.