So much for fact checking.
On Wednesday morning, the day after New Jersey’s primary election, the Times of Trenton and the Star-Ledger reported that Arthur Hasselbach had received 47 write-in ballots to join the Republican ticket for November’s township committee (TC) election. Both papers have now corrected their reporting, noting it was David Hasselhoff, not Arthur Hasselbach, who cinched the write-in nomination.
Hasselhoff, the former star of hit television shows such as “Knight Rider” and “Baywatch,” has been a Cranbury resident since June 2009, when he purchased a unit in Cranbury’s Four Seasons 55+ community. (He is 58 years old.)
While many Cranbury residents were surprised to learn Hasselhoff was actually a Cranbury resident, few doubted his chances in November’s election.
“Its just really hard to to ignore his body of work,” said Glenn Johnson, the lone Democrat running in November’s TC election. “Just seeing his raw leadership abilities in action in all those Baywatch reruns makes you think: is there really anyone more qualified to help manage our town?”
Jay Taylor, a Republican on the TC, said he first met Hasselhoff while campaigning in Four Seasons last year.
“I was canvassing the Four Seasons club house when I happened to notice a middle-aged guy surrounded by about a dozen scantilly-clad ladies,” said Taylor. “I naturally assumed it was Win Cody, so imagine my surprise when I came to find out it was David Hasselhoff.”
Taylor said he has been a long-time fan of the star, and will campaign for him in the upcoming election.
“I just found my old Knight Rider boxer shorts in the attic, so I’m personally pretty excited to get out on the campaign trail again,” he said.
By his own admission, Hasselhoff spends little time in Cranbury. He said he uses his Four Seasons residence primarily “as a place to crash between my European drinking binges.”
Meanwhile, for Arthur Hasselbach, the former TC member, it quickly became time to wind-down the briefest of campaigns.
“I was really looking forward to dragging Glenn Johnson through proverbial mud, but I guess there’s always next year,” he said.
Coincidentally, Hasselbach admitted owning Hasselhoff’s 1989 album “Knight Love.”
“There’s some pretty good tracks on there,” he said. “It’s clear the guy has some real talent.”
Photo: News outlets have now confirmed David Hasselhoff, not Arthur Hasselbach, is the write-in Republican candidate for Cranbury Township Committee
