From DUI to ballot scandal: New charges for former NJ mayor

🗳️ Former Lumberton Mayor Gina LaPlaca and her husband are accused of using fraudulent signatures to get her name on the Democratic primary ballot.
⚖️ Prosecutors say without the disputed signatures, LaPlaca would not have qualified for the June primary ballot.
🚨 The new charges add to a turbulent stretch for the couple that has included a DUI and child-endangerment case and domestic violence allegations.

The former Lumberton Mayor dubbed the 'Queen of Toxicity,' Gina LaPlaca, is facing yet another round of legal trouble, this time over allegations she and her husband used fraudulent signatures to get her name on the ballot.

Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia Bradshaw announced criminal charges against LaPlaca, 47, and her husband, Jason Carty, 49, following an investigation into LaPlaca's nominating petition for the June Democratic primary.

Prosecutors allege fraudulent signatures on primary petition

Investigators say multiple people whose names and purported signatures appeared on LaPlaca's petition told authorities they never signed it and never authorized anyone to sign for them.

Prosecutors say that without those signatures, LaPlaca would not have had enough valid signatures to qualify for the primary ballot.

LaPlaca signed an affidavit swearing she had "personally circulated the petition" and that each person had signed it in their own handwriting. Investigators, however, determined Carty had also collected signatures.

LaPlaca is charged with making a false statement under oath, knowingly filing a false petition, two counts of tampering with public records or information and falsifying or tampering with records.

Carty faces the same charges except for making a false statement under oath.

Gina LaPlaca booking photo (inset), during her DUI arrest 3/17/26

A turbulent history for LaPlaca and Carty

The charges are the latest legal problems for the couple.

LaPlaca pleaded guilty earlier this year to DUI and a child-endangerment charge stemming from her March 2025 arrest. Authorities said LaPlaca had been driving with her young son in the car and registered a blood-alcohol level of .30%, more than three times New Jersey's legal limit. She was admitted into a three-year Pretrial Intervention program.

In May, Carty was charged with aggravated assault by strangulation and harassment following a domestic incident involving LaPlaca. LaPlaca subsequently recanted her allegation that Carty had attempted to strangle her.

Jason Carty and Gina LaPlaca in 2016 (Jason Carty via Facebook)

The couple had also been arrested following a domestic incident in 2023. Charges against LaPlaca were later dismissed.

LaPlaca lost Democratic primary

Despite making the ballot, LaPlaca was overwhelmingly rejected by voters. She lost her June 2 Democratic primary bid for another term on the Lumberton Township Committee by a 3-to-1 margin..

LaPlaca and Carty are scheduled to make their first appearance on the new charges in Superior Court in Mount Holly on Sept. 21.

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