Metuchen once again proved that the “brainy borough” isn’t like anywhere else.
On Nov. 4, when Sen. John McCain (RArizona) conceded the election and the nation realized that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) would be the next president of the United States, residents of Metuchen were still unsure who had won the race for two Borough Council seats.
After machine and absentee ballots were counted, incumbent Democrat Pete Cammarano had retained his seat, followed by Republican challenger Justin Manley. Incumbent Democrat Tim Dacey followed by just 25 votes. Currently there are two Republicans on the six-member board. Mayor Thomas Vahalla is a Democrat and usually presides over council meetings but does not vote unless there is a tie.
Cammarano led the field of three candidates with 3,869 machine votes, Borough Clerk Bonnie Lacina told the Sentinel on Nov. 5. Dacey had 3,336 machine votes and Manley had 3,424. Cammarano had 288 absentee votes, Dacey 278, and Manley 215.
That adds up to totals of 4,159 for Cammarano, 3,639 for Manley and 3,614 for Dacey.
But the numbers do not include provisional ballots, Lacina said. County officials still need to check and count the provisional ballots, which could take more than a week, she said.
“They have to work on the 7th Congressional race first,” Lacina said, and added that there are other contested elections in other municipalities. “We called [the county] this morning because everyone is sitting on the edge of their seats.”
All three candidates, however, bested McCain, who only received 2,712 votes in the historically Democratic borough. Obama won 4,155 votes, and a total of 6,987 people voted out of 9,809 registered voters. The borough has a population of 12,800 and a history of voting for Democrats.
In an e-mail, Cammarano said the numbers show that “Metuchen voters are very sophisticated voters and don’t just vote based on party affiliation. I’m not sure why I received more votes than my running mate.”
He speculated his family history growing up in Metuchen with eight brothers and sisters gave him a boost when it came to name recognition.
Dacey said he hasn’t spoken to Manley and was waiting until all the provisional votes are counted. Dacey left last Wednesday night to go out of town for a long weekend but sent his comments to the Sentinel by e-mail.
Dacey said, “Justin ran an energetic campaign, and I am disappointed that Pete and my numbers were not closer.”
Manley spoke to the Sentinel by cell phone as he spent Wednesday delivering thank-you messages to supporters who displayed his campaign signs.
“It’s very close, it’s exciting,” Manley said. “At this point, I still think I won. The experts will tell you provisionals don’t have much of an impact. Either way, I’m beyond thrilled.”
Statistically about one-third of the provisional ballots are rejected as invalid votes, he said. Both Dacey and Cammarano were happy about Obama’s win.
“It’s always great to witness history being made,” Cammarano said.
Dacey wrote, “I am very happy about Obama’s victory. I think it sends a positive message all around the world about America, and I am really excited about the size of his victory, combined with the Democratic House and Senate gains.”
Manley was disappointed in the presidential race and speculated that McCain followed bad advice from campaign staff and others guiding the Republican campaign, and that his message ended up sounding too much like President George Bush.
“They led him astray,” Manley said.
Contact Enid Weiss at [email protected].