Secaucus Votes ’09
Nov 2nd, 2009 | By Greg Hazley | Category: On tap, PoliticsIn case you haven’t noticed, there’s an election on Tuesday, Nov. 3, as Secaucus voters head to the polls to fill three council slots and the mayor’s office for the next four years.
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The first election in the wake of this summer’s FBI dragnet that brought down Mayor Dennis Elwell will likely move Independent 2nd Ward Councilman Mike Gonnelli from the role of challenger and voice of the opposition into the driver’s seat in Secaucus as the head of the “Take Back Secaucus” slate runs unopposed for mayor.
Secaucus Democrats took a perception and financial hit with Elwell’s arrest, but they have two incumbents on the ballot for town council on Tuesday.
Although newly minted party leader, Assemblyman Vincent Prieto, opted not to run a candidate against Gonnelli, the Democrats are backing incumbent 3rd Ward Councilman John Reilly and 1st Warder Dawn McAdam, who was appointed to the council in March.
The Independent slate, in addition to Gonnelli, includes incumbent 2nd Ward Councilman John Bueckner.
The new faces in the arena on Tuesday as challengers include Democrat Frank Trombetta (2nd Ward), and Independents Rob Costantino (1st Ward) and Bill McKeever (3rd Ward).
The eSecaucus team isn’t big on campaign promises, so we’ll direct you to the candidates’ respective websites for those: Take Back Secaucus | Secaucus Democratic Organization. Chances are, you’ve already met the candidates around town.
The current town council includes three Democrats (Reilly, McAdam and 3rd Warder John Shinnick) and three Independents (Gonnelli, Bueckner and 1st Warder Gary Jeffas) with Mayor Richard Steffens, a Democrat, tipping the balance toward the Dems. This election is important because it could potentially shift the balance of power in the governing body.
In addition to the mayor and council, the governor’s race, two assembly seats and a $400M open space ballot question are also in play, so turnout is expected to be solid, especially considering that good weather is forecast as well.
Good luck to all of the candidates. We’ll get you updates and results as they trickle in, so stay tuned and feel free to debate your choices in the comments section below.
Here are links to sample ballots:
Sample Ballots (PDF)
• First Ward
• Second Ward
• Third Ward
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Rob , Best of LUCK tomorrow! you got this! NO WORRIES!!
No matter the outcome, I hope the winners will move forward knowing that if they start playing games and giving in to temptation, they will be busted.
Everyone needs to stay honest and do the job they were elected to do, and not worry about filling their pockets or gaining influence.
This election is important for people to get out and vote and show that we will show up to both vote our approval and disapproval in the future!
Hopefully people have thought long and hard about how they will cast their votes and the statement those votes will make. How you vote or who you write in is your business. Just vote!
I’ll be voting COLUMN C all the way and be looking to TAKE BACK SECAUCUS
I believe all of Secaucus will be making a firm statement tomorrow – we will NOT stand for corruption. Good luck to the Gonnelli Administration come January 1st. But we will hold Mr. Gonnelli, Mr. Costantino, Mr. Bueckner and Mr. McKeever to a higher standard. If you go the route of the Elwell group, we will throw your collective butts out of office as well. The town is putting our trust in you, please don’t let us down.
Don’t make our council a rubber-stamp for Mike Gonnelli. Keep Reilly and McAdam on board. Vote column A!
Keep in Reilly and McAdam so Elwell still has some control? No thanks.