Councilman Mike DuPont referred to his wife’s battle with cancer in his victory speech, with running mate Art Murphy at his side. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD & DAN NATALE
Incumbent Red Bank council members Mike DuPont and Art Murphy drubbed their sole Republican challenger Tuesday, ensuring a continued Democratic lock on power at borough hall.
Political newcomer Suzanne Viscomi polled just 1,476 votes, barely two-thirds the totals racked up DuPont, with 2,266 votes, and Murphy, 2,155.
“I think the voters like what we do, and we need to continue,” DuPont told a group of supporters gathered in the vacant former Ballew’s jewelry store on Broad Street.
Viscomi, though, went down swinging.
Suzanne Viscomi thanks her supporters Tuesday night. (Photo by Dan Natale. Click to enlarge)
“Just because it always was doesnÂ’t mean itÂ’s right,” she said, in an apparent reference to the Democrats’ dominance. “Just because they get away with what they get away with doesnÂ’t mean they should keep getting away with
it.”
Former mayor Ed McKenna, the Democratic party dean who continued his election-night tradition of filling in a tally board as returns came in, told redbankgreen he was surprised by the margins of victory, which he described as “enormous,” particularly in light of narrower wins by Demcocrats in the last three elections.
“I think it’s because everyone knows Michael and Art, and they know there’s no personal agenda for either of them,” he said.
Viscomi, a member of the borough school board, dropped heavy hints at another run.
“I think next year weÂ’re going to be more organized,” she told backers assembled in an insurance office on Maple Avenue. “TheyÂ’re going to realize that Im not just someone there for show. We are trying to be serious.”
