Democrat Liz Lempert will be the new mayor of consolidated Princeton. At press time the unofficial vote count was 6,093 for Ms. Lempert, and 3,939 for Republican opponent Richard Woodbridge.

“I’m thrilled,” Ms. Lempert said last night when the numbers came in. “It looks like there was a really strong turnout. We were worried that with the storm, there would be a lot of confusion. But it looks like things went more smoothly than expected.”

Township and Borough votes were counted together in this election. Consolidated Princeton now has 22 voting districts.

In the Presidential election, Princetonians overwhelmingly supported President Barack Obama with 7,903 votes. Republican challenger Mitt Romney received 2,474 votes.

The six Democrats running for Council seats were all elected: tentative vote counts were Bernie Miller with 7,114; Patrick Simon with 7,090; Heather Howard with 6914; Jo Butler with 6,903; Lance Liverman with 6,861; and Jenny Crumiller with 6,807. The Republican challenger, Geoff Aton, received 3,533 votes.

Democratic Congressman Rush Holt (D-12) won handily over his Republican challenger, Eric A. Beck, with 7,964 votes to Mr. Beck’s 2,071. Democratic Senator Robert Menendez defeated Republican candidate Joe Kyrillos with 7,474 votes to Mr. Kyrillos’s 2,554.

Princeton voters endorsed an open space tax of 1.7 cents per $100 of assessed property value. Because the Borough and the Township will cease to exist as separate entities on December 31, it was necessary for this year’s ballot to include a question authorizing the joint tax. The new tax will enable a united Princeton to continue stewardship of its recreation and passive open space and make key acquisitions contemplated by the joint Master Plan.