Mayor DiDonato will lead town for a second term
Wednesday, November 13, 2013 • The Hammonton Gazette • Page 3
ELECTION, from?Page 1
time.
Council races were too close to
call with the remaining 41 ballots
awaiting county tallying.
As of press time, former Councilman?Edward Wuillermin (HF)
had 2,213 votes (2,034 machine
votes from November 5 and 179
mail-in ballots), Councilman
Michael Pullia (R) had 2,186
votes (2,010 machine votes and
176 mail-in ballots), former Councilman?Tom Gribbin (HF) had
2,177 votes (2,000 machine and
177 mail-in ballots), Councilwoman Anni Carpo (R) had 2,165
votes (2,003 machine votes and
162 mail-in ballots) and Councilman?Steven Furgione (R) had
2,154 votes (1,978 machine votes
and 176 mail-in ballots). Tallies
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came from the town and the Atlantic County Board of Elections.
Former Mayor Ed Marinelli
(HF) has been mathematically
eliminated from the race with
2,077 votes. He had 1,911 votes
from the machine count and 166
votes from mail-in ballots.
Council votes include mail-in
ballots and November 5 machine
totals.
The Gazette will post final election results on hammontongazette.com as soon as they
are made public.
DiDonato is the first mayor
elected to serve two four-year
terms. He thanked the voters for
their support.
“I am honored to serve an additional four years for the town of
Hammonton. I am honored and
humbled to have been given another four years,” DiDonato said.
DiDonato said he felt Hammonton?First’s campaign message
of teamwork resonated with voters.
“I think the campaign got
across the concept of team. I was
fortunate enough to run with three
gentlemen with a ton of municipal experience. That enabled the
voters to identify me with the others on the ticket,” DiDonato said.
DiDonato identified two key
projects the town needs to complete under his leadership.
“We have to complete the
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Grape Street, Pratt Street, Packard
Street and Second Street project
and a water rebate program to promote conservation. Those are the
two big ones,” DiDonato said.
Giralo thanked the voters for
their support.
“I want to thank everyone for
their support and look forward to
working with the people of Hammonton for many years to come,”
Giralo said.
Giralo, who serves as president
of the Hammonton Board of Education, said he felt the Republican
team ran a strong campaign.
“I thought we ran a wonderful
campaign about the issues that
face our community. I will still
stand by that: water, sewer and
taxes,” Giralo said on November
5.
According to Giralo, the results
show that both parties struggled to
reach voters.
“In all honesty, neither side has
a mandate. . . If it’s two Hammonton First and two Republicans,
that’s even more mind-boggling,
because there is no clear mandate.
Next year’s council race will be
very interesting,” Giralo said on
November 5.
Last week, Giralo told The
Gazette he felt local Republicans
ran a strong race.
On November 12, the board of
elections reviewed hundreds of
ballots still not tallied from
throughout the county.
Hammonton’s remaining 41
ballots were not expected to be
tallied until the evening of November 12, after The Gazette’s
print deadline.
Inside a courtroom at the former
courthouse in Mays Landing
packed with county and local political figures and media, the Atlantic County Board of Elections
went through the tedious process
of accepting or rejecting mail-in
and provisional ballots. The
process began shortly after 3 p.m.
on November 12.
Atlantic County Board of Elections Chairperson Paula Dunn
presided during the proceedings.
Hammonton First organization
members Mayor Stephen DiDonato, Councilman Dan Bachalis,
former Mayor John DiDonato,
Hammonton First Inc. President
and 2013 Campaign Chairperson
James Donio, candidate for council Edward Wuillermin and Phil
DeMarco were all present for the
early hours of the process.
No members of the local Republican Party were present.
Only 47 percent of the local
electorate voted in the 2013 election, down 21 percent from 2012’s
presidential election.
Paul?J. Macrie IV and Gina
Rullo contributed to this report.
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