Write-ins don’t accept nominations

Two Stockton residents received enough write-in votes to be placed on the November ballot, but didn’t accept the nominations by the 4 p.m. Tuesday deadline.

By: Linda Seida
   An election year with no local contests appeared to have turned into a horse race in Stockton Borough after the June 5 primary, when two write-in candidates earned places on the November ballot to challenge the incumbent council president.
   But neither Kathleen Vandergrift, whose six write-in votes were enough to put her on the GOP ticket, nor Gary Dailey, whose three write-in votes could have put him on the Democratic ticket, accepted the nomination by the 4 p.m. Tuesday deadline, Hunterdon County Clerk Mary Melfi said, meaning their names won’t appear on the November ballot.
   Two Borough Council seats are up for grabs in Stockton. Incumbent council President Michael Hagerty ran unopposed in his bid for the Democratic nomination and received 24 votes. Incumbent Andrew Giannattasio is not seeking re-election.
   There were three other Democratic write-in candidates. Former councilman Nicolo Messina, Craig Smith and Charles Soriero each received one vote.
   A second Republican write-in candidate, David Pasicznyk, received two votes.
   None of the write-in votes in Lambertville or West Amwell were enough to place the recipients on the ballot, although in West Amwell it was the first time anyone had ever received such a "sizable amount" of write-ins, according to the municipal clerk.
   At the county level, Lambertville Police Director Bruce Cocuzza ran unopposed on the Democratic ticket for the office of sheriff and received 1,072 votes. He will face off in November against the GOP winner, Deborah Trout, who received 2,087 votes.
   Both Mr. Cocuzza and Ms. Trout are making a second attempt. Both of them ran for the office three years ago.
   Ms. Trout, a Mercer County sheriff’s officer, was defeated in the 2004 primary by incumbent William D. Doyle, her former boss in the Hunterdon County Sheriff’s Department.
   Mr. Cocuzza lost his first run for the sheriff’s office to Mr. Doyle, who has been the county’s sheriff since 1996. He is not seeking re-election.
   The other GOP candidates for sheriff in last week’s primary were Freeholder Director George D. Muller, who received 1,996 votes; retired Hunterdon County sheriff’s officer Tony Critelli, 1,722; and retired Bernardsville police officer Gary "Buzz" Howell, 1,175.
   In the Lambertville primary for two seats on the City Council, two Democratic candidates ran unopposed. Incumbent council President Steve Stegman received 97 votes. Wardell Sanders, a former deputy attorney general with the state Department of Banking and Insurance, received 103 votes.
   Although no Republican filed to run in the primary, there also were eight write-in ballots cast for four candidates. None of the candidates received enough votes to earn placement on the November ballot. Former Councilman Richard Anthes received four votes; his wife, Dorothy Anthes, received one; George Muller received two; and Marcus Rayner received one.
   In West Amwell, Democrat Frank P. Masterson III and Republican Stephen Bergenfeld ran unopposed.
   Mr. Masterson received 50 votes; Mr. Bergenfeld received 104. They’ll face off in November for the lone seat on the Township Committee that became available when incumbent Gary Bleacher declined to seek re-election.
   Sean Pfeiffer received 20 GOP write-in votes and one Democratic write-in.