We are the Bernardsville Democrats!
Our members are active in all facets of the community including the First Aid Squad, School Board, Friends of the Library, Land Use Board, Green Team, Historic Preservation Committee, and Borough Council.
As state budget cuts force retrenchment throughout the community, we continue to work with our elected and appointed officials to develop creative and pro-active plans to maintain a local government that is responsive to the needs of the residents of the Borough.
The work is not easy. Leadership in a time of scarce resources is never easy.
But our members have stepped up and sought the opportunity to serve.
​Needless to say, that work will not be over soon.
Please use this website to find out how you can help, volunteer, contribute, spread the word, and join your neighbors in the
​Bernardsville Democratic Party.
Our Responsibilities
Actively register new voters
Educate voters on important issues
Support Candidates for Borough, County, State, & National offices by hosting events and assisting with their campaigns
Define and promote issues and positions reflecting the interests of Democratic voters in our districts
Identify, endorse, and support Democratic candidates for local office
Serve as challengers at local elections
The Chairs
Bob Frawley
Chair
Bernardsville Democratic Committee
Mariel O'Brien
Vice Chair
Bernardsville Democrats
District Representatives
Get to know us
District 1
Christina Balas
Christina Balas, along with her spouse and children, moved to Bernardsville in 2019 to be closer to work and to find the perfect place to raise their young children. Christina is a National Operations Director with responsibilities in strategy and implementation for Coldwell Banker Commercial headquartered in Madison, NJ. They moved to their dream neighborhood on Old Fort Road. The neighborly waves and friendly dog walkers have made them feel at home, and both children are so excited about being at Bedwell.
Christina’s love for the Garden State she was born and raised in was only strengthened when she went to Rutgers University for both her undergraduate and graduate schooling. While always joining in on the Rutgers chant, she earned her master’s degree in Organizational Communication. She was deeply involved in Student Services while at Rutgers and that experience shaped a lot of her beliefs.
She also grew up in a house where politics was not taboo to discuss and that grew her love for country. In high school she would volunteer to do phone banking for her local congressperson, in college she went door to door to get out the vote in underrepresented areas of the state, and she served as an election challenger in a district notorious for voter suppression. She is passionate about taking part in our democracy and wants to bring as many friends along with her.
John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin lives on Anderson Hill Road and has been a resident of Bernardsville for 5 years. He is married with a stepson who attends Bernardsville Middle School and a daughter who is headed to college.
John received his BS in Biology at Moravian College in Bethlehem PA, a PhD in Plant Breeding and Genetics at the University of Minnesota, and studied plant stress physiology at University of Delaware at the College of Marine and Earth Studies in Lewes, DE. For the past 10 years, John has been employed as a research scientist at Rutgers University with a focus on increasing plant resistance to fungal pathogens. John enjoys hiking in the area and walking their dog, Abe, in the neighborhood.
District 2
Open Seat for District Representative
Contact Us if you’re interested in filling this position. We’d love to meet you!
Open Seat for District Representative
Contact Us if you’re interested in filling this position. We’d love to meet you!
District 3
Melissa Provost
Melissa Provost lives on Garibaldi Street and has been a resident of Bernardsville since 2005. Melissa has three children in the Bernardsville public schools. Melissa received her BA in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland at College Park, and her JD from Seton Hall University School of Law.
​Melissa is currently a Senior Attorney at Drinker Biddle & Reath in Florham Park, where she focuses her practice on employment counseling and litigation. Melissa is the Softball Coordinator for the Somerset Hills Little League, and she is the proud coach of her daughter's softball team. Melissa is also a Board Member of the Bernardsville Library Foundation and was one of the Democratic candidates for Borough Council in 2015.
Thomas O’Dea Jr.
Thomas O’Dea Jr. lives on Holly Ridge Court. He and his wife and son have lived in Bernardsville for 14 years. Tom was elected to a 3-year term on the Borough Council in 2017.
Professionally, Tom is a consultant for budgeting and strategic and program planning for clients that include some of the nation’s largest school districts.
He received a BS in Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and MBA from London Business School at the University of London. ​
District 4
Susan and Jeff Horowitz
Susan and Jeff Horowitz live on Laurel Lane. They have two adult children, both graduates of BHS, and two grandchildren.
Susan received her BA from University of Pennsylvania and a Masters in reading education from Arcadia University. Susan has been a reading and special education teacher in the Somerset Hills School District for 21 years.
Jeff received degrees in economics and law from Penn. He was a partner in a major Philadelphia law firm, general counsel of a NYSE listed environmental services company, and general counsel of the world's largest manufacturer of paintball sporting equipment. He retired in 2017.
District 5
Kerry Haselton
Kerry Haselton is a 14- year member of the Environmental Commission, current chair of its Land Use Committee, a member of the Somerset County Open Space Advisory Committee and Raritan Headwaters Association Board of Directors, and a candidate for Borough Council in 2019. She is also a long-time coach for the Somerset Hills Soccer Club, a 17-year veteran player of competitive senior soccer, and served on the committee that built the turf field at Bernards High.
Additionally, she formed and led a coalition of residents that successfully lobbied the NJ Department of Transportation to reduce the size of a replacement bridge on Route 202 and to cover it with native stone.
Born in Morristown, raised in New Vernon, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Princeton University, Kerry and her husband raised two daughters and have lived in the borough’s Twin Lakes neighborhood since 1993. ​
Adam Shain
Adam Shain grew up in Bernardsville and graduated from Bernards High. Adam, his wife, his 3 year old, and 2 year old son live on Mount Harmony Road.
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Adam has held various roles in Business Development in the Pharmaceutical industry. Currently, he is the Global Business Development Director for a leading pharmaceutical packaging company. Adam received both a M.S and B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from NJIT.
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Currently, Adam spends his free time both participating and teaching at Alex Wilke Martial Arts in Bridgewater, where he holds black belts in American Freestyle and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
District 6
Nancy Deutsch
Nancy Deutsch and her husband Edward, both New Jersey natives, have lived in the Somerset Hills area since 1984, and have lived in Bernardsville since 2005. They have three adult children and five grandchildren.
Nancy received her B.A. in Communications from Fordham University and for several years worked in the local newsroom at CBS in New York City, before leaving to pursue an acting career. She later studied landscape architecture at Rutgers, and while there, created projects documenting the history and gardens of Blairsden in Peapack and Fosterfields in Morristown.
She volunteers at Homeless Solutions in Morristown, and as a long time member of the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church, has been involved in many of their outreach programs.
She enjoys gardening, dog agility classes with her two little dogs, and looks forward to someday traveling the world again.
Bob Frawley
Bob Frawley, Chairman, Bernardsville Democratic Committee, has been a resident of Bernardsville since 1984.
​Bob is a lawyer with a private practice in Morristown. Most of his career has been spent working with small, entrepreneurial businesses. His clients can’t afford to waste time or money, and neither can Bob, which compelled him bring his leadership skills to Chair the Bernardsville Democratic committee, sponsor the Downtown Redevelopment Town Halls of 2014, and run for Borough Council in 2013 and 2014. Most recently, Bob was appointed Chair of the Mayor's Economic Downtown Development Advisory Committee.
District 7
Pat Powers-Wry
Pat Powers-Wry, currently lives on Anderson Hill Road with her husband and son, a student at BHS. The Wrys have been residents of Bernardsville since 2004.
A lifelong Democrat, Pat was the first woman in her family to attend college graduating from Rutgers with a BA in English and a Masters in Creative Arts Education. She has been a teacher of Language Arts, Public Speaking, and Drama for over 30 years and a part-time Lecturer at Rutgers College since 1994.
In between teaching duties, she toured the US in the 1992-93 National Tour of Fiddler on the Roof and was a recipient of two grants from The National Endowment for the Humanities. Pat became active in local democratic politics, notably, Get Out The Vote (GOTV) initiatives and Poll Worker volunteering. Additionally, Pat is a three-time winner of the Somerset Hills Education Foundation (SHEF) Chili Cook-off, a communicant of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, and active in local community theater. In 2019, Pat won election as a representative from Bernardsville to the SHSD Board of Education.
Mariel O'Brien
Bio to come
Digital Communications
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Christina C. Balas
Active participation is one of Christina Balas' core beliefs. She shares her knowledge of digital platforms with our committee.
