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Dyer the apparent upset winner in Montgomery committee race

By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
   In an election result she termed as a “mandate on Skillman Village,” Kacey Dyer will become the second Republican on the Montgomery Township Committee, according to a preliminary vote count released by Somerset County.
   Ms. Dyer won 5,026 votes, while her opponent, Democrat Keith Hovey, an attorney with the firm of Wilentz, Goldman and Spitzer, received 4,717.
   However, Mr. Hovey has not conceded the race because the preliminary count does not include provisional ballots, which are still being counted by the Somerset County Board of Elections.
   The final vote total including provisional ballots as well as the number of provisional ballots outstanding, were not available at press time.
   But Ms. Dyer said that with a current margin of over 300 votes, she doesn’t think the number of provisional ballots could change the outcome.
   ”We feel confident,” she said.
   However, Democratic Committeewoman Lousie Wilson said she saw a considerable number of provisional ballots being cast on Election Day, including more than 80 in District 10. Sources at the county told her most of the votes now being counted were “overwhelmingly Democratic,” she said.
   Though Mr. Hovey has a considerable number of votes to overcome, she said it would be “premature to concede.”
   She added, “Nobody wants to deny the victor, whoever it is, that sense of closure, but it is important that every vote be counted.”
   If preliminary results stand after the final count, Ms. Dyer will join Committeeman Mark Caliguire, who is now the sole Republican on the board. There have not been two Republicans on the board since 2003.
   It was Ms. Dyer’s second race for a seat on the committee; last year she ran unsuccessfully for a one-year unexpired term against Democrat Mike Joye.
   The winner will take the place of Mr. Joye, who chose not to seek re-election.
   Ms. Dyer was herself surprised by the results. The national election and the movement toward the Democratic Party were worrisome, she said.
   ”I’m a little shocked. Pleasantly shocked,” she said on election night, shortly after she heard the preliminary results.
   Her campaign focused on issues important to residents, she said. A Montgomery native, Ms. Dyer emphasized her connection to the township.
   ”I think people responded to the Skillman issue,” she said.
   The Township Committee has been criticized recently as developers tapped to submit plans for development of a 40-acre mixed-use portion of the Skillman Village property failed to do so. The site was considered crucial to recouping some of the $20 million the township has spent on the property.
   Throughout her campaign, Ms. Dyer took the offensive on the issue. At her urging last month, Mr. Caliguire contacted the Freeholder Director Peter Palmer to suggest the county purchase the land as open space to create a park. Ms. Dyer said it would create “instant debt relief” for the township.
   The county has requested a proposal from the township, and the matter will be discussed by the county Open Space Advisory Committee.
   In her campaign, Ms. Dyer accused the committee of “trying to make the community into something it’s not.” She challenged the village-within-a-park concept, which would have built a community center on the redevelopment area.She also cited a debt figure for the township of $63 million, which has been strongly contested by current committee members.
   ”I think people were shocked by the debt numbers,” she said.
   Mr. Hovey called the figure “entirely misleading,” and said it included irrelevant debts such as sewer debt and it did not take into account money the county owes the township.
   The Skillman Village issue was a “a big part” of Ms. Dyer’s win, Mr. Caliguire said.
   ”It’s an issue people paid attention to,” he said.
   Ms. Dyer vowed to pursue to the issue.
   ”My No. 1 priority is to pursue the county purchase of Skillman Village,” she said, adding that she will strive to reduce the township’s debt and avoid tax increases.
   Comparing her results to last year, she said she picked up districts around the Skillman Village area, helping her to win.
   The township released preliminary results for each district in the township, which do not include absentee, emergency, or provisional ballots.
   According to those results, in District 4, which includes Skillman Village, Ms. Dyer won by a significant margin — 335-281. In neighboring District 3, Ms. Dyer won even more decisively, 303-220.
   She focused much of her door-to-door campaigning in that area, she said.
   ”Toward the end, as it was getting down to the wire, that’s definitely where I focused,” she said.
   She was able to overcome Mr. Hovey’s landslide wins in three districts that include high-density housing. In District 1, which includes Blue Spring Road, he won 362-229; District 10, which is the Pike Run development, he won 527-275; and District 13, which is adjacent to District 1 and includes apartment buildings, he won 260-138.
   Mr. Hovey attributed his success in that area to his campaign work there.
   ”I know that I performed well in both the areas that I canvassed, as well as my own neighborhood,” Mr. Hovey said.
   District 13 is Mr. Hovey’s home district; he lives on Scarlet Oak Drive.
   Mr. Hovey won two other districts: District 14, between Route 518 and Orchard Road, just east of the Skillman Village property, 270-211; and District 2, which is located just south of District 14, 232-199.