Politics & Government
Republicans the Clear Choice of Lacey Voters
Township residents overwhelmingly favor GOP in Senate, Assembly, county and municipal races
The majority of Lacey voters chose Republicans in every race on the ballot Tuesday.
Approximately 32 percent of the township's registered voters came to the polls, impressing township officials who expected only 3,000 to 4,000 rather than the 5,984 who voted, Mayor Gary Quinn said.
“I think there were a lot of issues thrown at the race at the last minute,” Quinn said. “Election time, a lot of this is a report card from the people. You live by the vote.”
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Voters came out to express that they feel the township is on the right track, Quinn said.
on the Lacey Township committee as he picked up 55.64 percent of the votes over Democratic newcomer Gary Vaccaro.
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“Moving forward, the committee is in good shape,” Quinn said. “I think people are very supportive. They realize the economic times we’re involved in and that we’re certainly going to try to minimize any impact to the taxpayers, which I believe we can do.”
Five out of 18 districts (2, 4, 12, 16 and 18) favored Vaccaro. The majority of those districts were on the northern end of town, bordering Berkeley Township. Vaccaro, a resident of Heatherington Court in Lanoka Harbor, lives in the area of those districts.
"[Candidates] tend to get the support of neighboring communities," Quinn said.
But Vaccaro led by a small margin in those districts. In four out of those five districts Vaccaro won by less than 10 votes. In district 12, he led by 65 votes.
A Vaccaro victory would have upset the partisan balance on the committee, giving the Democrats a 3-2 majority. However, the governing body remains in Republican hands, with Most, Quinn and Deputy Mayor Mark Dykoff working with Democrats Sean Sharkey and Helen DelaCruz.
“Sean and Helen are both good people and bring great ideas. Even though we’re from different parties, we work well together and we’ll continue to do that through 2012,” Quinn said.
In addition to voting Most back in, the voters of Lacey favored the Republican Party in the freeholder, Senate and General Assembly races.
“The history of the township over the last 20 plus years have been for the Republican party and certainly they control the township committee itself,” Quinn said. “I think the community and the majority of the taxpayers in town are happy with the direction that the Republican Party is taking the township in.”
Sen. Chris Connors picked up 69 percent of the votes in Lacey while Brian Rumpf got 65 percent and DiAnne Gove got 65 percent for Assembly. As for the freeholder’s race, Director Joseph Vicari earned 65 percent of the votes.
“Chris Connors, Brian Rumpf and DiAnne Gove have been leading this district for many years now,” Quinn said. “They’ve done an outstanding job not just for Lacey Township but for all the 9th legislative district.”
Below is a breakdown of the results of the general election, with winners in bold:
General Election - November 8, 2011 Township Committee Total Total Percentage Township Committee Vote for Two Districts Registered Votes Cast Voted Most % Vaccaro % Voters 1 1302 348 26.73% 190 54.60% 156 44.83% 2 1322 355 26.85% 171 48.17% 176 49.58% 3 814 205 25.18% 114 55.61% 84 40.98% 4 1047 275 26.27% 131 47.64% 139 50.55% 5 1050 320 30.48% 192 60.00% 122 38.13% 6 1024 329 32.13% 186 56.53% 136 41.34% 7 1463 449 30.69% 235 52.34% 207 46.10% 8 879 232 26.39% 143 61.64% 86 37.07% 9 1215 333 27.41% 187 56.16% 142 42.64% 10 1503 438 29.14% 232 52.97% 195 44.52% 11 694 303 43.66% 185 61.06% 108 35.64% 12 1057 324 30.65% 127 39.20% 192 59.26% 13 869 271 31.19% 158 58.30% 106 39.11% 14 1056 315 29.83% 175 55.56% 134 42.54% 15 684 239 34.94% 139 58.16% 95 39.75% 16 1080 359 33.24% 172 47.91% 181 50.42% 17 649 209 32.20% 125 59.81% 77 36.84% 18 750 229 30.53% 109 47.60% 116 50.66% Absentees 547 451 82.45% 290 64.30% 143 31.71% Military Provisionals Totals 18458 5984 32.42% 3261 54.50% 2595 43.37%State Senator 9th Legislative District Candidate Votes Percent Christopher J. Connors 3,722 69.72 Dorothy A. Ryan 1,612 30.19 Write-in 4 0.07
General Assembly 9th Legislative District Candidate Vote Percent Brian E. Rumpf 3,454 65.79 Carla Kearney 1,789 34.07 Write-in 7 0.1 DiAnne C. Gove 3,363 65.86 Bradley Billhimer 1,738 34.03 Write-in 5
0.09
Freeholders Candidate Votes Percent Joe Vicari 3,441 65.89 Michele Rosen 1,769 33.87 Write-in 12 0.22
State Question Votes Percent Yes 3,481 72.24 No 1,337 27.75
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