On March 12, the BTDC endorsed a powerful ticket to run for two open seats in the 2026 Bernards Township Committee race. Mayor Ana McCarthy and former Committeewoman Joan Bannan are leaders our community knows, with experience residents can trust. If you’re interested in working on this exciting campaign, please click here.

Mayor Duarte McCarthy has lived in Bernards for 30 years and is serving a three-year term secured in the 2023 election. In seeking re-election, the mayor says, “The Township Committee is working together collaboratively, and in good faith, to provide all our residents with the best possible outcomes. Regardless of the national divisiveness, here we are locals. I would be honored to continue serving our community for another term of office.”

Duarte McCarthy is the township’s first-ever democratic mayor and has had a broad range of responsibilities. She has served as liaison to the Agricultural Advisory, Emergency Management, and Golf Advisory Committees, the Municipal Alliance, and the Environmental and Shade Tree Commissions. She is also member of the Police Subcommittee, and lead with the utility companies.  As Mayor, she is focused on several priorities in partnership with her colleagues, including fiscal responsibility, public safety and economic development.  She is the Township Committee lead on the 250th Anniversary Committee and is excited about the work underway to celebrate Bernards and its important role during the Revolutionary War.

Professionally, Duarte McCarthy was a senior executive with Citi for several decades and led the company’s global strategy for hiring and developing diverse talent, fostering an inclusive work environment, and ensuring management accountability. Afterward, she joined the Forte Foundation as the Director of Corporate Partners, responsible for new business development. Additionally, she has a long record of community service in local non-profits, Bernards schools, and township government. Since 2015, Duarte McCarthy has served on the Board of Directors of the Greater Somerset County YMCA, and is past chair, and current commissioner for the NJ State Advisory Commission on the Status of Women.

The mayor and her husband, Michael, are currently empty nesters. Their daughter, Alissa, attended and graduated from Bernards Township public schools, and was recently married.  

Joan Bannan is a practicing attorney and has lived in Bernards for more than 25 years. She was elected to the Township Committee in 2019 and served a three-year term. Prior to her election, she was a member of the Board of Health in 2015 and was appointed to the Municipal Alliance in 2017.  In 2018, she became a Certified Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor and trained residents, administrators and teachers in Bernards and surrounding communities.

During her term as a Committeewoman, she continued her service on the Board of Health and the Municipal Alliance. She was also appointed to a wide range of committees and boards including the Sewerage Authority, Planning Board, Environmental Commission, and the Police Subcommittee.  Working with her colleagues and professional staff, key accomplishments during her tenure include the entry into a shared service agreement with nearby towns for a municipal court resulting in taxpayer savings, the introduction of a new and improved Township website, the establishment of protocols and systems during the COVID pandemic to ensure safety and continuation of municipal services, and responsible fiscal oversight keeping Bernards debt-free.

This year, Bannan returned to a position on the Planning Board after having served there in 2019 and 2020. Regarding the upcoming election, she says, “I am excited to run with Ana, who cares deeply about our town, and for the opportunity to serve all residents of our community once again.”

Bannan is currently counsel with the firm of Porzio Bromberg & Newman in Parsippany, NJ where she is an active litigator and involved in the firm’s pro bono efforts. In her two-plus decades in Bernards Township, she has raised four children who attended Bernards Township public schools.  She thoroughly enjoys spending time with her family, which now includes three grandchildren.

– Jen Aaron