DiCicco wins narrowly in Dennis Township (11-4-09)

Nov, 11-2009 12:46 pm

By Carole Mattessich
Staff Writer

In the contested race for a township committee seat in Dennis Township, incumbent Albert DiCicco (D) won by a margin of 89 votes over his challenger, Eugene Glembocki (R).

Some 2,402 of the township’s 4,572 registered voters cast ballots in the race – a turnout rate of more than 52%.

The final vote was 1,117 for DiCicco and 1,028 for Glembocki. Five voters cast write-in votes.

Voters cast 169 mail-in votes in this first year in which mail-in ballots were authorized. A total of 77 of the mail-in ballots were cast for DiCicco, while 79 were cast for Glembocki.

Winner DiCicco attended the county Democrats’ gathering at Atkinson’s Restaurant in Cape May Court House, but was feeling the onset of a cold and left early.

Wednesday morning, DiCicco said he was “grateful” for his win.

“It’s actually very humbling when these things turn out successful, because you realize it’s an important mission, and how a lot of people have helped you,” he said. “You don’t do this by yourself.”

DiCicco said this year’s election was “tough because there was such a backlash.”

“Last election cycle, if you were running on the ticket with Obama, it was a like a tidal wave,” he said. “This year, everything’s different. The Corzine effect was big in Cape May County, for one thing, and recession had a lot to do with it. There’s not just one reason for the swing from last fall to this fall, there’s not just one answer, and I’m going to have to sit down with the other committeemen and figure out where we are going.”

For his part, Glembocki said the narrow loss was tough to take, but telling.

Glembocki’s platform included the claims that Dennis Township Committee should be more open in its discussion of township issues, and less open to influence by one party or party leaders.

He said that for all he is wary of partisan politics influencing township processes during the year, organized support of campaigns at election time is important, and he would have liked to see a little more.

“We’re like warriors out there on our own,” he said of local candidates. “With a little support we would’ve been over the top this year, but our organizational support too often seems to stop at the freeholder level.”

“Think about it. You build a home from the ground up, and every town represents a block. The party should be the mortar. We’ve got to build a solid foundation for the party, and I’m sure we’ll discuss this as a party in the future. We’re always trying to learn.”

“The thing about party organization and support is that it’s not good when it continues after the election and interferes with individual leadership of committeemen,” he said. “What the narrow margin showed is that even that can only go so far. People in Dennis Township are speaking out – whether it’s about the school budget, or an asphalt plant, or taxes.”