Press kit

Susan Scarpa is the Council President of West Orange, New Jersey, and a candidate for mayor in the township's nonpartisan election on November 3, 2026. She grew up in West Orange and raised her family here. A speech therapist in the West Orange public schools and a two-time PASSE award recipient, she previously worked as a business consultant managing communications infrastructure for Wall Street trading floors. On Council she helped deliver more than $3 million in budget savings in 2025, led the rewrite of the township's storm water ordinance, and established the Older Adults Advisory Board. Her campaign is fully self-funded and accepts no contributions.

Susan Scarpa is the Council President of West Orange, New Jersey, and a candidate for mayor in the township's nonpartisan election on November 3, 2026.

She is not a career politician. She grew up in West Orange and raised her family here. She works as a speech therapist in the West Orange public schools, where she has twice received the PASSE award. Before that she was a business consultant who managed communications infrastructure for Wall Street trading floors — experience she brings to how the township budgets and builds.

On Council, in her first month, she established the Older Adults Advisory Board she had campaigned on, along with enhanced senior programming. She led the rewrite of the township's storm water ordinance to protect residents from flooding and hold development to responsible standards. She used newsletter surveys to give residents a direct voice in preserving garbage pickup. In the 2025 budget cycle she worked with council colleagues and the administration to save more than $3 million while preserving the programs residents rely on. She championed a resolution against antisemitism in direct response to violent attacks on Jewish neighbors.

Her platform as mayor rests on four planks: budget control, responsible development, safer streets, and senior services.

Her campaign is fully self-funded and accepts zero contributions — from developers, PACs, or anyone else. The pledge is the campaign's tagline: Take No Money – Owe No Favors. Instead of checks, the campaign asks supporters to tell five friends to tell five friends why this November matters.

"I love West Orange. I grew up here. I raised my family here. This is home — and I'm running to protect it."