Mahwah Voted Mostly for Election Losers

In the county, state and federal elections held Tuesday, the choices made by a majority of Mahwah voters did not match up with those made by the rest of the voter base. From offices ranging from the President of the United States to some local races, Mahwah residents tended to favor the losers of the elections.

According to the unofficial tallies of Mahwah votes released by township clerk Katherine Coletta Friday, the majority of Mahwah voters chose the losing candidate in most non-local elections.

For president, Mahwah voters favored the Romney-Ryan ticket over Obama-Biden, 6,299 votes to 4,688. The state and the country voted for Obama.

In the presidential race, the third highest vote-getter in Mahwah was Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, whose running mate James Gray visited the township to campaign. Johnson received 52 votes.

In the state election for senator, Bob Menendez reclaimed his seat. Mahwah voters chose Republican challenger Joe Kyrillos, 5,366 votes to 4,293.

For the county’s board of chosen freeholders, Republican incumbent, and Mahwah resident, Rob Hermansen and running mate Peg Watkins received the highest number of Mahwah’s votes – 5,497 and 5,101, respectively. However, Democrats Tracey Zur and Steve Tanelli won the election.

Mahwah voters agreed with the majority in only one election, for District 5 representative. Mahwah voters reelected Scott Garrett to the House of Representatives, as did the majority of voters in the district.

According to Coletta, the results will not be certified until the county Board of Elections adds absentee and provisional ballots to the totals.

Though not enough to impact any of these larger races, the remaining ballots will likely decide between Steve Sbarra and Jonathan Marcus for the third seat on the Mahwah Township Council. Sbarra led Marcus by on 37 votes after the unofficial tally.

Coletta said Thursday the township received a large number of provisional ballots, and was unsure when the county would certify the results.

The other two council seats were secured by incumbents Lisa DiGiulio and John Roth. Mahwah Mayor Bill Laforet was also reelected.

See the complete unofficial tally of Mahwah’s votes in the attached document.

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