A former mayor in New Jersey who had previously pleaded guilty to a DUI involving her child is now facing a brand new set of charges, along with her husband, for allegedly falsifying signatures on her nominating petition for a Democratic Party primary race. Gina LaPlaca is the former mayor of Lumberton Township and is currently serving as a township committee member.
LaPlaca is being charged with making a false statement under oath, knowingly filing a false petition, tampering with public records and falsifying or tampering with records, according to information released by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office. Jason Carty, LaPlaca’s husband, is being charged with knowingly filing a false petition, tampering with public records, and falsifying or tampering with records.
Carty submitted the petition to the Lumberton Township Municipal Clerk for the primary election, which included an affidavit signed by LaPlaca that stated she “personally circulated the petition [and] that such petition was signed by each of the signers thereof in his/her own handwriting.” An investigation into the matter discovered that LaPlaca, 47, and Carty, 49, had collected signatures for the petition, according to prosecutors.
“An investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office revealed that multiple individuals whose names and purported signatures appeared on LaPlaca’s nominating petition indicated they had neither signed the petition nor authorized anyone to do so on their behalf in support of the candidate’s nomination,” the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office stated.
According to a report from Fox News, prosecutors revealed that the petition would not have contained the required number of valid signatures to qualify her as a candidate for the June 2026 Democratic Party primary for the Lumberton Township Committee without the fraudulent signatures. LaPlaca and Carty are scheduled to make a court appearance on September 21, 2026 in Mount Holly, New Jersey.
LaPlaca served as Lumberton’s mayor for four years between 2021 and 2025. While she left the mayor’s seat, she was allowed to stay on the township committee, with her current term set to expire at the end of the year. She sought to be re-elected to the committee in the Democratic primary, but ultimately finished third in the contest for two open seats, behind Mayor Terrance Benson and his running mate, Kendra Hatfield.
The new allegations against LaPlaca come after the former mayor pleaded guilty earlier this year in a DUI case that involved her being busted for driving under the influence with her child in the vehicle. Prosecutors said that she was drunk when she picked her child up from a daycare center in March 2025. Witness video showed her vehicle swerving out of its lane and almost hitting a utility pole while the child was in the car.
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Local law enforcement stated that LaPlaca’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.30%, which is more than three times the legal limit of 0.08%. The former mayor received a sentence of three years of supervision under a pretrial intervention program, which included mandatory attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
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