David Kenny, Dennis Pone and Thomas Goodwin all won re-election to the Hamilton Township council Nov. 3.

Candidates from both parties said the time has come to put politics aside and focus on the township’s future just days after a contentious campaign for three seats on Hamilton Township council.

Part of that future is at least two more years of all-Republican municipal government after incumbents Thomas Goodwin, David Kenny and Dennis Pone defeated Democratic challengers Fred Dumont, Vincent Capadanno and Wendy Sturgeon in Nov. 3’s election. Pone — who finished third with 18.1 percent of the vote — defeated the next closest candidate, Dumont, by about 2,500 votes. That’s a margin of just more than three percentage points.

With Goodwin, Kenny and Pone rejoining fellow Republicans Kevin Meara and Kelly Yaede on council, plus a Republican mayor in John Bencivengo and Republican Chris Christie winning New Jersey’s gubernatorial race, Pone was confident at the prospects facing Hamilton.

He said township government would continue to pursue a three-pronged plan of attack of improving Hamilton’s infrastructure, public safety and government management practices, with the major focus in the last category being on stabilizing taxes. Pone said he hoped Christie, who he called Hamilton’s “friend in Trenton,” would assist the township by revamping the state’s Council on Affordable Housing standards.

Kenny agreed with Pone’s assessment of what’s next for council, saying tax stabilization is by far the most important issue in the upcoming term. The council will have to tackle that by ridding inefficiencies in government and possibly eliminating underutilized programs. Expanding the rateable base is also an option, but that growth has slowed with the economy in recent years, Kenny said.

“Primarily, you have to focus on doing more with less, making employees more efficient and find cost savings where you can,” he said. “I don’t foresee any major initiatives. It’s back-to-basics government.”

But, despite tight times economically, the election proved Hamilton voters are content with the current municipal government, Pone said.

“The campaign is over for now, and we’re relieved at that,” he said. “As for the election, people were happy with the job we’ve done. But I know Hamilton well enough that I know people will want us to keep doing what we have done.”

Still, Dumont said he believes there should still be room for both parties to put politics behind them and find common ground in their desire to help the residents of Hamilton. It is a desire, for Dumont, that has not dissipated simply because he lost an election.

“I got involved in this because I wanted to help people,” he said. “I knocked on more than 3,000 doors and talked with people. People are hurting out there. It’s scary. Every story I heard, the more inspired I became to help them.”

Even with his term on the township planning board set to expire at the end of the year, Dumont said he will continue to be active in township affairs. He plans on meeting with the current council to share some of the stories he heard during the campaign, along with names and phone numbers of some residents in dire need of support.

He said the current council members should be amenable to a meeting.

“Once the election is over, it’s time to work together to solve those issues,” Dumont said. “We’re not opponents anymore. We’re all people that care deeply about this township.”

And perhaps there is some common ground despite a campaign that occasionally spilled into the council chamber. For his part, Pone said he and his running mates are always willing to talk and listen to residents’ concerns.

“We’re always learning from people,” Pone said. “Tom, Dave and I are very approachable. We’re Hamilton guys. We’ve raised our families here, and we know a lot people. We know we can always do a better job, and our doors are open.”