Mayors of Middlesex Borough
Our First Mayor
Mayor George W. Harris was our first Mayor and a man who held the respect of Democrats and Republicans alike, and who won the esteem of his colleagues in government and of the citizens who continued to reelect him to office for nearly a quarter of a century. The first Chief Executive of the Borough of Middlesex, Mr. Harris, a republican, was nominated as Mayor in 1913 by a unanimous acclamation from both the GOP and Democratic parties. This honor undoubtedly was a tribute to his efforts in having Middlesex established as an independent borough. Mr. Harris was a member and treasurer of the Piscataway Township Committee at the time Middlesex still was governmentally subservient to Piscataway. He and a group of civic leaders in Middlesex, including Mr. Louis V. Poulson, Mr. Max Wirtz and Mr. Walter Sisty', initiated the movement to have Middlesex incorporated as a separate borough.
Although Mr. Harris received the first mayoralty nomination of both political parties; he met opposition on the ballot by "Citizens Party" candidate, Mr. Max Wirtz. Excitement mounted on the morning of Election Day, June 10, 1913, as election officials placed ballot boxes in the Lincoln Firehouse for the approximate 200 voters of the infant municipality. By the end of the day, there was no question as to the people's choice. The vote was clear and decisive. By a margin of almost 2 to 1, Mr. Harris was elected to the town's highest office. His candidacy was not opposed in the next election. Mayor Harris guided the borough through its early trials and tribulations, though the trying days of World War I, the Stock Market crash and initial years of the depression. He served in office for 20 years, from 1913 to 1933. Mayor Harris' successor was John J. Rafferty, a Democrat, who later became Judge of the "New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals. Mayor Rafferty held office from 1933 to l936.
Other mayors that have served the borough include:
Chester A. Lydecker, Democrat, from 1936 to 1938;
James J. Marsh, Republican, 1938 to 1941;
George E. Lincoln, Republican, from June to December of 1941;
Justin Shearn, Republican, 1942 to 1945;
Louis Staffelli, Republican, 1946 to 1953;
William H Klein, Democrat, 1954 to 1955;
Joseph P. Zuccarelli, Republican, 1956 to 1957;
Walter Rafferty, Democrat, 1958 to 1961;
Jasper Correnti 1962 to 1963;
Charles Judson, who gained office by the margin of one vote after Superior Court Judge Joseph Halpern, on December 20, 1963, ruled that two absentee ballots which would have made George Gould, Mayor, invalid. Judson held office from 1964 to 1969;
Martin S. Matuskiewics, a democrat 1970 to 1979;
Ronald S. Dobies, a democrat was first elected in 1980 serving to his resignation to become Borough Administrator in of 2005. Gerald D’Angelo, a democrat held office from 2005 till his resignation in December of 2008. John Furhman, a democrat was appointed Mayor in January 2009 and served till November 10, 2009. Robert M. Sherr, a Republican, was elected Mayor ending 41 years of Democrat control of the office. Sherr served from November 10, 2009 to December 2011. Ronald Dobies, a democrat who previously served as Mayor was re-elected and served as Mayor from 2012 to 2015.
Ronald DiMura, a Democrat, was elected as Mayor and served from 2016 to December 17th, 2019. On December 16th, 2019, DiMura, 63, was indicted by a state grand jury as the result of an ongoing investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA). The investigation began with a referral from the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC). DiMura was charged with the following criminal offenses in a nine-count state grand jury indictment handed up in Superior Court: theft by deception (second degree), misapplication of entrusted property (second degree), financial facilitation of criminal activity (money laundering) (second degree), official misconduct (second degree), theft by deception (third degree), theft by deception (second degree), official misconduct (second degree), pattern of official Misconduct (second degree), and tampering with public records (third degree). Mayor DiMura resigned as Mayor effective December 17th, 2019, and subsequently was found guilty of the charges against him.
Council President John Madden a Republican was elected as Mayor and served a full term through December 31, 2023. Republican John (Jack) Mikolajczyk is the current elected Republican Mayor whose term runs through December 31, 2027. There have been a total of twenty Mayors in the Borough’s history to date.