By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Writer
As Mayor-elect Liz Lempert gave her victory speech to a crowd of supporters Tuesday night, her cell phone went off.
It might have the only wrong note struck on a day when everything went right for the Princeton Democratic Party. Democrats swept all seven local races on the ballot to ensure one-party control of the government that will lead the unified Princeton come Jan.1.
The crowd that had gathered at party headquarters, a local businessman’s office on Nassau Street, watched results come in for the presidential race. The gathering grew larger as the night wore on. The party faithful feasted on a college student’s menu of beer, pizza and other snacks to fill their stomachs as the clock pushed toward 9 p.m.
Supporters cheered whenever a state was called for President Barrack Obama and alternately booed when a state was called for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
The contest was tight early on, amid some concerns when Mr. Romney enjoyed a brief lead. One Democrat expressed concern that she thought the race would be decided in the courts, akin to the 2000 contest.
The crowd roared when Pennsylvania was announced for Mr. Obama; one woman was seen jumping for joy. There would be cheers for results in other contests, including the New Jersey Senate race between incumbent Democrat Robert Menendez and GOP challenger state Sen. Joseph M. Kyrillos.
Township Committeewoman Sue Nemeth, sitting on a chair near the screen showing the results, reflected on the past seven days. It had been a rough lead-in to the race, with super storm Sandy delivering a two-fisted knockout to parts of the community, some of which is still without power.
”It’s been a wild week,” said Ms. Nemeth, who endured some days without power at her home.
The storm forced voting districts to relocate to emergency locations on Tuesday. Ms. Nemeth said the party used volunteers, social media and other means to alert voters of the changes.
”We got the word out,” she said.
During the evening, two men were manually filling in vote totals for the mayoral candidates. It became apparent early on that Ms. Lempert had defeated her GOP challenger, Richard Woodbridge, by a wide margin.
”You never really know until the votes come in,” Ms. Lempert said in a brief interview.
With her family looking on, Ms. Lempert reflected on the impact of Sandy. She used her remarks to remember the Princeton residents still suffering without power.
But for Ms. Lempert, her history making night in becoming the first mayor of the consolidated Princeton could be summed in the numbers at the end of a long list of voting districts posted on the wall where people had gathered 6,093 to 3,938.
Mr. Woodbridge’s total was off by one vote, but by then, it no longer mattered.

