Gina LaPlaca, a former New Jersey mayor, and her husband face ballot fraud charges for allegedly using fake signatures on her Democratic primary petition.
Gina LaPlaca, a former mayor of Lumberton Township, New Jersey, is facing new legal troubles alongside her husband, Jason Carty. The couple has been charged with ballot fraud after prosecutors alleged that they submitted false signatures on LaPlaca’s nominating petition for an upcoming Democratic primary.
LaPlaca, who previously pleaded guilty to driving under the influence (DUI) in a case involving her child, was charged with making a false statement under oath, knowingly filing a false petition, tampering with public records, and falsifying or tampering with records. The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office announced these charges on Tuesday.
Carty has also been charged with knowingly filing a false petition, tampering with public records, and falsifying or tampering with records. The couple’s legal issues stem from a petition submitted by Carty to the Lumberton Township Municipal Clerk for the primary election, which included an affidavit signed by LaPlaca. In this affidavit, she claimed to have “personally circulated the petition [and] that such petition was signed by each of the signers thereof in his/her own handwriting.”
However, an investigation revealed that multiple individuals whose names appeared on LaPlaca’s petition stated they had neither signed the petition nor authorized anyone to do so on their behalf. According to the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, without the allegedly fraudulent signatures, LaPlaca’s petition would not have contained enough valid signatures to qualify her as a candidate for the June 2026 Democratic primary for the Lumberton Township Committee.
LaPlaca and Carty are scheduled to appear in court on September 21 in Mount Holly, New Jersey. LaPlaca served as mayor of Lumberton from 2021 to 2025 and retained her position on the township committee after leaving the mayor’s office. Her current term is set to expire at the end of this year.
In the recent June Democratic primary, LaPlaca sought re-election to the committee but finished third in the contest for two open seats, trailing behind Mayor Terrance Benson and his running mate, Kendra Hatfield.
The new allegations come on the heels of LaPlaca’s earlier guilty plea in a DUI case. In that incident, she was found to be intoxicated while picking up her child from daycare in March 2025. Witnesses reported that her vehicle was swerving and nearly struck a utility pole while her child was inside. Police later determined that her blood alcohol concentration was 0.30%, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08%.
As part of her sentencing, LaPlaca was placed under three years of supervision through a pretrial intervention program, which includes mandatory attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
The unfolding legal saga surrounding LaPlaca and Carty raises serious questions about integrity in local elections and the responsibilities of public officials. The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office continues to investigate the matter, and further developments are anticipated as the court date approaches.
According to Fox News, these allegations add to LaPlaca’s already troubled legal history and could have significant implications for her political future.