On Primary Day They Let Fingers Do Their Talking
PLAINFIELD - ELECTION - A quarter of Plainfield Democrats who voted in the June primary election withheld their votes from Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sen. Jon Corzine.
According to certified results from Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi, 5,505 Democrats voted on June 7. Of those, 5,160 split their votes among three mayoral candidates, incumbent Albert T. McWilliams (2,388), Regular Democrat Sharon Robinson-Briggs (2,713) and independent Democrat Thomas T. Turner III (59).
McWilliams, who had been chairman of the Plainfield Democratic City Committee, was forced to run a slate of his own after party officials stripped him of the power to select candidates for the line. His supporters were offended when a political consultant for Corzine sent out an alleged first-person endorsement for Robinson-Briggs, complete with a contrived version of the state seal. Corzine's office said that flier was mailed without the senator's approval, though he did endorse the slate running on Column A.
McWilliams fielded a slate on Column C that included City Council, freeholder and Assembly candidates, with the governor's slot blank. He also expressed dismay at the made-up flier that singled out Robinson-Briggs.
Corzine received 4,077 votes, 1,364 more than Robinson-Briggs, indicating that some Column C voters moved their fingers to the left to vote for him. But of all Democrats who went to the polls, 1,428 walked out without pushing the Corzine button.
Ironically, McWilliams lost by 325 votes and apparently 345 voters made no selection for mayor.
Rajoppi, who ran for another five-year term as County Clerk, was unopposed in Column A but only got 48 percent of the total turnout.
According to certified results from Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi, 5,505 Democrats voted on June 7. Of those, 5,160 split their votes among three mayoral candidates, incumbent Albert T. McWilliams (2,388), Regular Democrat Sharon Robinson-Briggs (2,713) and independent Democrat Thomas T. Turner III (59).
McWilliams, who had been chairman of the Plainfield Democratic City Committee, was forced to run a slate of his own after party officials stripped him of the power to select candidates for the line. His supporters were offended when a political consultant for Corzine sent out an alleged first-person endorsement for Robinson-Briggs, complete with a contrived version of the state seal. Corzine's office said that flier was mailed without the senator's approval, though he did endorse the slate running on Column A.
McWilliams fielded a slate on Column C that included City Council, freeholder and Assembly candidates, with the governor's slot blank. He also expressed dismay at the made-up flier that singled out Robinson-Briggs.
Corzine received 4,077 votes, 1,364 more than Robinson-Briggs, indicating that some Column C voters moved their fingers to the left to vote for him. But of all Democrats who went to the polls, 1,428 walked out without pushing the Corzine button.
Ironically, McWilliams lost by 325 votes and apparently 345 voters made no selection for mayor.
Rajoppi, who ran for another five-year term as County Clerk, was unopposed in Column A but only got 48 percent of the total turnout.
MAYOR
5,505 Democrats voted
5,160 Voted for mayor
------------------------------
345 cast no mayoral vote
Albert T. McWilliams - 2,388
Sharon Robinson-Briggs - 2,713
Thomas T. Turner III - 59GOVERNOR
5,505 Democrats voted
4,077 Voted for Corzine
------------------------------
2,713 Voted for Robinson-Briggs
1,364 Turner and/or McWilliams voters who also voted for Corzine
Finally, 1,428 voters cast no gubernatorial vote for Corzine, that equals 25.9% of Plainfield’s voting Democrats.
--Bernice Paglia
KEYWORDS: Election, voting, Democrats, mayor
posted by Bernice at 2:00 PM
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