Unofficial Results: Hermansen Ahead by 45 Votes in Town Council Race

With an unofficial 45-vote lead after preliminary votes were counted Tuesday night, former Councilman and Bergen County Freeholder Rob Hermansen looked poised to win an open seat on the Mahwah Township Council.

However, for the second year in a row, township officials say the vote for a new councilman is too close to definitively call.

The result of the four-way race for one seat on the township council can not be determined until absentee and provisional ballots are counted, which will likely happen Wednesday morning, Township Clerk Kathy Coletta said.

Preliminary results tallied in the township Tuesday night saw the four candidates receive the following number of votes:

• Rob Hermansen – 1,558
• Jonathan Marcus – 1,513
• Jonathan Wong – 1,255
• Gregg Sgambati - 356

“We’ll see what happens,” Hermansen said after viewing the results Tuesday night.

“It’s not a done deal, yet. The bottom line is we ran a positive campaign. I am so proud of all of the people on my team, my volunteers, and my family. My kids were out there helping, they wanted me to win. We’ll see if I get that opportunity. I hope so.”

Jonathan Marcus, a Planning Board member who was in second place after the preliminary vote count said the close race was familiar territory.

Last year, Marcus lost to Councilman Steve Sbarra by just 32 votes. The results were separated by a small margin on election night last year, too.

“I’ve been here before, and at this point it really is too close to call,” Marcus said Tuesday night. “Now we wait to see what happens.”

“I had a great time campaigning, the response I received from people was empowering. I thank the people that voted for me. And for those who didn’t, I respect that too.”

Though the race is likely between those two candidates, much of the chatter amongst political insiders gathered at town hall to view the results Tuesday night was about Jonathan Wong, the 22-year-old political newcomer who earned a strong third-place showing.

“I am humbled, honored, and truly privileged to see so much support from Mahwah,” Wong said Tuesday.

“Learning everything I have this year, I hope to get more involved, and have another strong showing next year. I’ll be back.”

Environmental Commission member Gregg Sgambati also said this year’s election was a learning experience for him.

“Our committee made its first mark on the Mahwah electorate,” he said.
“I am positive that when we calculate the votes per dollar spent, we will be proud or our ability to grow our committee with nothing but word of mouth. We will do 20 things better next year.”

The race was to fill a seat vacated by the mid-term retirement of longtime Councilman John Spiech in June. The four candidates ran to fill the remaining year of Spiech’s unexpired term, which ends in December 2014.

Stick with Patch for more details on this developing story.