The Republican New Jersey mayor who was physically restrained while charging toward a resident during a Pemberton Township council meeting last month has conceded the mayoral race to his Democratic opponent.
Mayor Matthew Bianchini congratulated Belinda Fontanez in a Facebook post Wednesday.
“The voters of Pemberton Township have spoken, and the results are clear. I offer Belinda Fontanez my sincere congratulations on her victory. As she prepares to take on the responsibility of leading our community, she has my full support for a smooth transition,” Bianchini wrote.
“I care deeply about the future of this township, and its success matters far more than any single election,” he added.
Bianchini was decisively defeated, earning just over 30% of the vote, according to unofficial results.
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Bianchini, who was tapped to serve as mayor following the resignation of his predecessor, will remain in the role until the end of this year.
Video footage from an October Pemberton Township council meeting captured the mayor being restrained as he sought to advance toward resident Michael Sawka after Sawka appeared to give the middle-finger gesture at the mayor.
“I am f—in’ gettin’ you!” Bianchini can be heard declaring as another individual intervening in the tense situation pushed the mayor back.
“I should not have said that,” Bianchini told WPVI, adding that it “was wrong” and that he is “not gonna get anybody.”
“I will not apologize for my actions last night. If you attack my family, as that resident did last night, I will act,” the mayor wrote on Facebook, according to the New York Post.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported the mayor’s wife, who was in the audience during the meeting, noted in a Facebook comment on a Pine Barrens Tribune post, “I am not condoning my husbands [sic] actions but I will say as a parent and a spouse, I get his protection mode.”
“He was saying verbally abusive comments about my wife and my daughter,” Matthew Bianchini alleged to the Pine Barrens Tribune. “And then he did a hand gesture and looked at my daughter. To me, it appeared like he gave her the finger and that is when I stood up. He looked at me, smiled and gave me the finger and that is when I went out after him.”
Bianchini and Sawka have a history of bad blood between them.
The mayor told WPVI, “I just basically snapped,” noting, “I hate to put it this way, but … it’s a long time coming.”
“Was it wrong? Absolutely. Was it justified? Absolutely. And I would do it again if I had to,” the mayor told the outlet.
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Sawka, who according to WPVI denied making comments towards Bianchini’s family, told the station, “All I’ve ever been trying to do is show that we’re wasting money.”
“His family, his stepdaughter, his stepson, his daughter, they all attack me online, and they just come after me just with personal attacks,” Sawka told WPVI.
Bianchini alleged to the Pine Barrens Tribune that Sawka has been harassing his family “for a long time.”
“Mr. Sawka has been a thorn in this township’s side for a number of years,” Bianchini told WPVI.