It’s almost become conventional wisdom to say politics in Morris County is changing.

It will take a few more election cycles to see if that’s really true, but the future may have arrived already in Morris Township.

For generations, the mostly suburban town that surrounds Democratic-Morristown was solidly Republican.

Over the last decade, Democrats periodically picked off a seat or two, but always by very thin margins and in one case, through a special election.

That began changing in 2017 when Democrats snagged two township committee seats by about 400 votes. And last year, two Dems won by more than 1,000 votes, thereby taking control of the five-member governing body. True, more people voted in last year’s mid-term election, but the increase in the Democrats’ winning margin was still impressive.

Now, there is only one Republican left on the committee.

That’s Peter Mancuso and his seat is up this year.

On the surface, Mancuso seems to have a resume that can’t lose.

For years, he balanced a very successful career on Wall Street – he is a retired governor of the New York Stock Exchange – with loads of volunteer and political work back home.

He has served two stints on the township committee with the first one commencing in 1979. He left municipal government after 1987 and returned in 2011. He also has chaired the state Republican Party’s Finance Committee.

His volunteer activities including working with youth baseball and hockey leagues in addition to being a co-founder of a local Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association. He also has been a trustee with various local institutions, including the County College of Morris, Morristown Memorial Hospital, the Morris Museum, the Community Theater and the College of St. Elizabeth.

Few can top that commitment to the municipality, but here’s the bottom line. How much does it matter?

That seems crass, but Democrats are partly gaining ground because older families are leaving town and younger folks are moving in. And they simply may not know, or care all that much, about what Mancuso was doing 25 years ago. Politics has nothing to do with sensitivity. And we can never forget about Donald Trump, who has done the Republican brand a lot of harm in New Jersey.

The Democratic opponent is William “Bud” Ravitz, but looking at this tussle from afar, it certainly seems like a party election. And on that score, Ravitz is checking all the boxes, He is pictured on his website posing with Phil Murphy and Mikie Sherrill.

A debate last week was pretty vanilla.

The candidates, as those seeking municipal office throughout New Jersey are wont to do, spoke about keeping taxes low and good planning. Imagine that.

Ravitz talks much about sustainability and combating climate change. Mancuso at the debate was not nearly as “gung-ho,” suggested that true solutions are beyond the scope of one municipality. That’s a reasonable point, but one that may not be accepted by younger voters.

Mancuso said he enjoys being the only Republican on the committee.

On one hand, he doesn’t really have a choice.

But on the other hand, that may be his most effective argument – governments on all levels need an opposing voice to curb, or at least speak out, when the majority gets carried away.