(Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
In Red Bank’s November 4 election for four open Borough Council seats, voters didn’t have much choice.
With no challengers throwing their hat in the ring, incumbents Kristina Bonatakis, Laura Jannone, Ben Forest, and Ben Yuro, all ran unopposed and cruised to victory.
But about 2.5 percent of the time, voters seeking another option did choose to write in someone else. A total of 265 of the 10,650 votes cast were write-ins for people who were not running for office.
That’s fairly high. In most elections, the write-in total hovers around one percent, although a look at the November 4 votes in other Monmouth County Towns show voters in several towns wrote in candidates at a rate higher than Red Bank’s.
The votes included 26 for Bank Street resident and realtor Mark Gregory; and 20 votes for Board of Education President and unsuccessful 2023 council candidate Suzanne Viscomi, according to a tally edbankgreen obtained through an open public records request. (We had to add up the votes cast for Sue Viscomi, Suzanne Viscomi and two incorrect spellings of her name.)
A dozen or so former members of council, regularly outspoken citizens and members of various boards got a handful of votes. Former mayors Pasquale Menna and Ed McKenna and some dude named John Poo each got a single vote.
And there were five votes for celebrities and ten votes for cartoon characters, although the County Clerk’s office disappointingly did not specify which celebrities or which cartoon characters.
We were dying to know, but apparently the bureaucrats at the Monmouth County Clerk’s office do not share our belief that a groundswell of support for Bugs Bunny would mark a notable shift in the political climate compared to, say, a nascent wave of Pikachu or Homer Simpson support.
Oh, and 14 voters apparently wrote in a phrase where the write-in candidate would go. Like the aforementioned disenfranchised cartoon supporters, there was no info on what phrases people actually wrote. So much for being able to send a message or give us a chuckle with your creative write-in. The bureaucrats just boiled it down to a vote for “Phrase.” Bummer.
Anyway, here’s the complete unedited list of the write-in tally. Have a look. There’s a good chance you or one of your neighbors is on it. Note that several dozen ballots were spoiled by an overvote, apparently when people wrote in candidates after already voting for three candidates or committing some other screw up.)
Red Bank Borough Council – Write-In Votes
- MARK GREGORY – 26
- PHRASE – 14
- OVERVOTE – 14
- OVERVOTE1 – 14
- OVERVOTE2 – 13
- SUZANNE VISCOMI – 12
- SEAN MURPHY – 8
- MICHAEL BALLARD – 7
- SUE VISCOMI – 6
- CELEBRITY – 5
- CINDY BURNHAM – 5
- PHRASE1 – 5
- NICOLE TAETSCH – 5
- JOHN JACKSON – 5
- MARYELLEN MESS – 4
- JACQUELINE – 4
- TIM HOGAN – 4
- CARTOON CHARACTER – 4
- CARTOON CHARACTER1 – 4
- MARK TAYLOR – 3
- CRAIG DOLAN – 3
- STEVE MURPHY – 3
- CARTOON CHARACTER2 – 3
- CELEBRITY1 – 3
- DAN RIORDAN – 2
- CELEBRITY2 – 2
- FICTIONAL CHARACTER – 2
- PHRASE2 – 2
- SHIRLEY HOLDEN – 2
- VANESSA BANKS – 2
- JAMES J WESTER – 2
- CARTOON CHARACTER3 – 2
- SUZNNE VISCOMI – 1
- ART MURPHY – 1
- PAT MENNA – 1
- CELEBRITY3 – 1
- RONALD LIPP – 1
- DOM RICCI SR – 1
- MARYBETH MAITA – 1
- RONALD H LIPP JR – 1
- DOMINIC KALORIN – 1
- MARY BETH – 1
- JOHN POO – 1
- BLANK – 1
- BLANK1 – 1
- BLANK2 – 1
- BLANK3 – 1
- LINDA HILL – 1
- MICHAEL GHEGAN – 1
- ANTHONY SCANNELL – 1
- SLATER RICHARDSON – 1
- JUSTIN SULLIVAN – 1
- MICHEL BALLARD – 1
- BRENDAN SULLIVAN – 1
- ADIENNE BILAAL – 1
- PAUL SULLIVAN – 1
- DAYNA STEIN – 1
- DIANE DAVIS – 1
- RICHARD AHTON – 1
- EDWARD SCHMITT – 1
- JIM WESTER – 1
- DOMINICK KALORIN – 1
- PATRICK NOBLE – 1
- KELLEN MURPHY – 1
- SUZANE VISCOMI – 1
- JN JACKSON – 1
- MICEL BALLARD – 1
- WILL DAL PRA – 1
- ANGEA MIRAVDI – 1
- MARIA LAGUNA – 1
- RALPH STRIVELLI – 1
- JACQUELINE – 1
- JAMES WESTER JR – 1
- TOM DOREMUS – 1
- JENNIFER BECK – 1
- MIKE MOORE – 1
- DAN HORAN – 1
- MATTHEW FIORVANTI – 1
- CANIO PARADISO – 1
- BEN FOREST – 1
- EDWARD ZIPPRICH – 1
- CHRISTOPHER – 1
- MICHAELA FERRIGINE – 1
- ED ZIP – 1
- GIUS SPARA – 1
- DR BRACILE – 1
- LAURA YOUNG – 1
- DONNA MCCOURT – 1
- KIM SENKELESKI – 1
- GREGORY GLAZOV – 1
- JANNON – 1
- LIAM OREILLY – 1
- DAN CERULO – 1
- JIM SMITH – 1
- JOHN LEFEVER – 1
- TIM FLANAGAN – 1
- PASQUALE MENNA – 1
- KEVIN HIGGINS – 1
- KALMAN PIPO – 1
- CHARLES JACKSON – 1
- SUSAN VISCOMI – 1
- SHAUN HINKLEIN – 1
- ELLEN MCARTHUR – 1
- JUSTIN PATSEY – 1
- THOMAS CARROLL – 1
- MEHMET ORS – 1
- ED MCKENNA – 1
- DOM RICCI ST – 0
