COURT HOUSE – Middle Township Mayor Tim Donohue has announced he will not seek a fifth, three-year term on Township Committee. Mayor Donohue will leave the governing body on December 31, 2023. Donohue was first elected in 2011 and has served seven years as Mayor, two years as Deputy Mayor and three years as a minority Committeeman. Donohue received the largest vote total in Township history in earning his fourth term in 2020.
Speaking before a large gathering of the Middle Township Regular Republican Organization at the Old County Court House on Tuesday Night, Donohue withdrew his Letter of Intent to seek the organization’s endorsement and instead, threw his support for the GOP nomination to Middle Township Chief of Police Chris Leusner. The county committee members then unanimously endorsed Leusner as the party’s 2023 candidate for Township Committee.
“It’s been an amazing twelve years and I’ve been so proud to serve our hometown,” Donohue said. “But, after heartfelt discussions with my family and close friends, I feel the time is right for me to move on to new challenges. I could not think of a better candidate to represent our cause going forward than Chris Leusner. Chris’s record of service to Middle Township is exemplary and I look forward to Chris bringing his stellar work ethic, unimpeachable integrity and proven leadership skills to our governing body in 2024.”
Chief Leusner recently informed the Township that he would be retiring from the Middle Township Police Department effective May 31, 2023. A lifelong resident of Middle Township, Leusner currently resides in Swainton with his wife Natalia, sons Christopher and Cole and stepdaughters Sophia and Angela.
Chief Leusner joined the Middle Township Police Department in 1997. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2003, Lieutenant in 2006 and Chief of Police in 2009. He served as President of the Cape May County Chiefs Association from 2015 to 2017 and as President of the NJ State Chiefs from June 2019 to June 2020.
Leusner’s father, Charles (Chuck) Leusner served on Middle Township Committee from 1983 to 2007, serving as Mayor from1999 to 2001.
“Like Mayor Donohue, I was raised in a family committed to public service,” Leusner said. “I am proud and honored to have served with my fellow officers of the MTPD for over twenty-five years. For nearly half of those years I have had the privilege of working with Tim Donohue to build a better Middle Township. I’m truly humbled to be chosen by the Middle Township Regular Republican Organization to advance this legacy of good work with Deputy Mayor Ike Gandy and Committeeman Jim Norris.”
