Voting vignettes from around the state
As political junkies anxiously watched election returns roll in Tuesday night, they didn’t have to worry much about the state Senate contest in the 8th Legislative District.
The Associated Press called the race for incumbent Sen. Dawn Marie Addiego (R-Burlington) about 10 minutes after polls closed.
The reason: Addiego ran unopposed. Her opponent — former Olympic track and field star Carl Lewis — was kicked off the ballot after Secretary of State Kim Guadagno, also the lieutenant governor, ruled he did not meet New Jersey’s four-year residency requirement for state Senate candidates.
Lewis bowed out after deciding not to contest an appellate ruling that found he could not have lived in New Jersey for the four years because he voted in California in 2008 and 2009.
— Matt Friedman
Governor’s team or not, voters toss GOP in Brick
Gov. Chris Christie’s pull didn’t reach down to the local level in Brick Township, where the GOP incumbents — who featured Christie’s endorsement of them on their campaign fliers — were swept out of office.
Much of the race had centered on opposition to the policies of Mayor Stephen Acropolis, a Republican.
The election flips control of the township council to Democrats, who had no seats on the seven-member panel last year.
— MaryAnn Spoto
Voting machines falter in Phillipsburg area
The third malfunction of a voting machine on Election Day in the Phillipsburg area was reported at Overlook Clubhouse in Lopatcong Township.
Two Phillipsburg polling machines were replaced earlier in the day after calibration and frozen screen issues.
The third machine’s hiccup was noticed when Cathy Hagen’s husband and son went into a voting booth and, Hagen said, were not told the machine was not printing voters’ choices. The printing occurs for all Warren County polling machines.
Warren County Board of Elections Administrator William Duffy said the poll worker had said the machine had been malfunctioning for 20 minutes before it was shut down and repaired. He also said votes are counted even if a receipt isn’t printed.
Hagen’s husband, Donald, disputed the poll worker’s account.
"They did not tell me," he said. "They handed me the card and that was it."
— David Foster/
Express-Times
Democrats voting drive garners mixed results
Across the state, Democrats launched a concerted get-out-the-vote effort to counter Republicans, who were well-financed with the help of Gov. Chris Christie.
That included overcoming a few hurdles.
In District 11 in Monmouth County, a Democratic campaign office lost power for a few hours. Vlad Gutman, the campaign manager, said volunteers still kept the phone banks humming. But Democratic challengers lost to the Republican incumbents.
And in Bergen County, volunteers going door to door had trouble seeing house numbers in the dark. So Democrats reached into their pockets and purchased 400 flashlights. The party held the line in District 38, beating back the Republican challengers there in some of the most closely watched races in the state.
— Chris Megerian and Matt Friedman
A familiar face returns to Middlesex Borough
Ronald Dobies, a former longtime mayor of Middlesex Borough and a former borough administrator, opened another chapter in his municipal service last night.
Dobies, a Democrat who was mayor of the 3.5-square-mile municipality for 26 years before stepping down in 2006, was elected as the borough’s chief executive again yesterday, defeating Republican incumbent Robert Sherr.
Dobies left the mayor’s office five years ago to become administrator at an $85,000 annual salary, but that job didn’t last long. In December 2007, the council cut the position. Dobies sued the borough, claiming the council broke the law by failing to pass his ouster by a two-third majority.
When the litigation ended, Dobies said he netted about $27,000, which he donated to charities and churches in the borough. He decided to again run for election this year.
— Tom Haydon
Morris County Republicans show dismay at results
Republicans who gathered to view election results at the Morris County clerk’s office expressed great dismay and surprise at the Democrats’ victories in a few municipal races.
Accustomed to easy victories in the heavily Republican county, they were particularly upset by Madison Mayor Mary Anna Holden’s defeat at the hands of Democrat Robert Conley, who won with 53 percent of the vote.
Holden had been on television several times during the past week to express outspoken criticisms of Jersey Central Power & Light’s handling of the October snowstorm, which left much of Madison in the dark for several days.
Adding insult to injury in the Madison results was the win in the borough by state Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex), running in Morris for the first time after redistricting. Codey won re-election handily while losing in his five other Morris towns, but he got 46 percent in Morris overall — an unusually robust figure for a Democrat in the county.
Also upsetting the Republicans were the Democrats’ gains of council seats in East Hanover and Morris Plains.
Former state Sen. Leanna Brown, a Chatham Borough resident who was active in William Eames’ unsuccessful run against Codey, said of Democrat Frank Mangravite’s win in Morris Plains: “I think Morris Plains has very good government, and that will continue with the Republicans in the majority. But it always hurts to have a dissident.”
— Ben Horowitz
In South Orange, it takes a village
In South Orange, residents approved three nonbinding referendum questions that ranged from the village’s name to whether elected officials should get paid.
The majority of residents favored changing the name from the “Township of South Orange Village” to simply “South Orange Village.”
Along the same lines, voters favored changing official titles from village president to mayor and from trustee to council member.
They also supported pay for local government officials — who currently receive no pay or benefits. Voters said they should receive an annual stipend of $2,400 for village president/mayor and $1,800 per trustee/council member, with no additional benefits.
— Eunice Lee