SAYREVILLE – Amid a recount, a tight municipal election in Sayreville appears to have resulted in Democrat Victoria Kilpatrick becoming the next mayor of Sayreville, while Democrat Michele Cassidy Maher and Republican Donna Roberts have claimed seats on the Borough Council.
In the race for the four-year term of the mayor’s office, results posted online by the Middlesex County Clerk’s Office show Kilpatrick with 3,629 votes to Republican Arthur Rittenhouse’s 3,626 votes – a difference of three votes.
If the results stand, Kilpatrick will succeed Republican Kennedy O’Brien as the borough’s first new mayor in two decades. O’Brien, who has held the position since 2000 and is Sayreville’s longest-serving mayor, did not file for re-election.
As Kilpatrick is currently serves on the Borough Council, her council seat will be vacated, if the results stand, and a member of her party will be appointed to the seat for a one-year term in 2020.
A press release from Rittenhouse states that he filed a petition in New Jersey Superior Court for a recount of the election. According to the press release, Rittenhouse seeks a recall due to alleged irregularities and the closeness of the vote. Irregularities cited by Rittenhouse in the press release that allegedly occurred include 41 provisional ballots not counted because of poll worker error, malfunctioning of one of the machines used to count the mail-in ballots, and the original count from the malfunctioning machine being erased after there was a rerun of the votes.
While Democrats appear to have claimed the mayor’s office for the first time in over 20 years, Republicans have gained representation on the Borough Council, which Democrats currently hold all six seats on. Results from clerk’s office show that newcomers Maher and Roberts emerged as the top vote-getters in the race for two available three-year terms on the council, with Maher receiving 3,630 votes and Roberts receiving 3,597 votes.
Incumbent Democrat Dave McGill received 3,565 votes and Republican Christian Hibinski received 3,453 votes, according to the clerk’s office.
Maher and Roberts will join the governing body in 2020. Democrats will have a 5-1 council majority after they are sworn in, with Roberts as the sole Republican on the Borough Council.