Wayne Councilwoman Fran Ritter expected to be replaced by James Freeswick

A political oddity is unfolding in the Fifth Ward.

Fresh off a bruising primary defeat in which the lifelong Democrat was rejected by more than 1,000 votes by voters who preferred a longtime Republican, retired attorney James R. Freeswick is now considered the front-runner to be appointed to the very governing body he failed to convince voters he belongs on.

Councilwoman Francine Ritter, the lone Democrat on the partisan council, dropped a bombshell this week, announcing she will step down effective March 6, 2026.

Ritter failed to win an at-large seat on the council last November, when Mayor Christopher Vergano was reelected to a fifth term despite criticism for his handling of new housing development.

Although she came out on top of the Democratic ticket, Ritter trailed Republicans Jason DeStefano, Donald DeDio Jr., and Frank Pietropaolo by as many as 3,000 votes.

Ritter, first elected in 2019 and re-elected in 2023, cited personal and professional reasons for her departure bur real estate records show her home is subject to a pending $479,000 sale. Sources say she is relocating to Montclair.

Her resignation, coming just over two years before her term was set to expire, creates a sudden political vacuum in a ward she has represented.

Under New Jersey’s vacancy laws, the power to name her successor falls to the Wayne Democratic Municipal Committee, and all signs point to the 76-year-old Freeswick, a fixture at town hall podiums for decades, getting the nod.

The active members of the Passaic County Democratic Committee who reside in the Fifth Ward will make three recommendations to the governing body, which has all Republican members, following the departure of Ritter, but nonetheless is empowered to render a decision about which of the three people to appoint.

The active members of the Passaic County Democratic Committee who reside in the Fifth Ward are James R. Freeswick of 1212 Summer Hill Road, Maria DeLuca-Pranzo of 14 Chicopee Drive, Mark I. Kass of 47 Morning Watch Road, and Victor and Marilyn Frierson of 25 Hinchman Ave, Unit 1-A, all in Wayne, New Jersey.

Francine Ritter and Max Green of 703 Brittany Drive, are departing, so they will probably not ne able to participate in the recommendtion.

It is a stunning turn of events for a candidate who just last year was publicly written off by his own party. Freeswick sought the Democratic line for mayor in the June 2025 primary but was steamrolled by Donald Pavlak Jr., the Board of Education president. Pavlak, despite carrying the party’s endorsement, lost the general election in a landslide to Republican Mayor Christopher Vergano.

Despite the lopsided loss, Freeswick is expected to be selected by the committee to fill Ritter’s seat on an interim basis, serving until the next general election. If appointed, he will occupy a ward seat he has never won at the ballot box.

Freeswick is no stranger to political heartbreak — or to the council chambers. He has run for mayor three times, losing each attempt. In 2001, he lost a primary. In 2005, he lost the general election to incumbent Republican Scott Rumana. And in 2025, he lost the primary to Pavlak, a man he openly questioned as a “lifelong Republican” masquerading as a Democrat.

Yet he remains a persistent presence at township meetings, so much so that Councilman Jon Ettman once dubbed him the “Lou Gehrig” of resident attendees. Freeswick has been a member of the Wayne Democratic Municipal Committee for 23 years and a member of the Wayne Democratic Club since 1972.

His potential ascension to the council is not without irony.

Freeswick has long railed against party leadership, claiming the fix was in for Pavlak during the mayoral primary. Now he stands to benefit from the very party machinery he argued was stacked against him.

His platform in last year’s mayoral contest centered on stable property taxes, transparency, and keeping residential density low.

Freeswick has also been an outspoken critic of public housing projects, warning that large-scale affordable housing developments risk stigmatizing residents as “poor people from the other side of the tracks.”

He advocated for using private developers to meet the township’s affordable housing obligations rather than taxpayer-funded projects.

If Freeswick could face competition for the appointment from June Fisher-Markowitz, who is designated as the region’s ward officer by the Wayne Democratic Club.

Ritter, in her resignation statement, expressed gratitude to her constituents and township staff, saying their engagement “mattered to me.”

The announcement comes amid recent real estate activity involving her condominium in the Brittany Chase community, though she did not cite the property as a factor in her decision.

Ritter famously claimed, “A pothole does not care if you’re a Democrat,” diminishing the significance of party politics in local government but she has also been at the center of some partisan bickering.

However, Wayne Environmental Commission Chairman Leif Skogberg once stated during a 2024 meeting that her involvement on the panel was potentially a liability as opposed to an asset because “her role as the sole Democrat on the Council could hinder the passage of basic common sense environmental policies.”

Skogberg has notoriously advocated projects that have contributed to flooding and overdevelopment.

The Wayne Democratic Municipal Committee is scheduled to meet Monday night to vote on its nomination. A meeting of the Wayne Democratic Club follows Tuesday.

If appointed, Freeswick will serve until the November election, when voters will decide who finishes the remainder of Ritter’s term through 2027.

Given the town’s Republican leanings and Freeswick’s recent electoral history, his tenure could be brief.

But for a man who survived a stroke in November 2024 — crediting the Wayne First Aid Squad and Police Department with saving his life — just showing up remains a victory.

He summed up that medical emergency with a quip at a council meeting, joking that he sensed Donald Trump was going to win the election. “You were a little over-excited, huh?” Republican Councilman Rich Jasterzbski joked back at the time.

Whether the council chambers will see that same humor — or that same persistence — on a regular basis now rests with a handful of party insiders.