May 13, 2008 - 5:43pm
Kafton and company look to seal deal against the GOP
By Max Pizarro
Category: LocalTags: Jackson, May 13, Michael Kafton, Todd Porter, Charles Garafano, Bobbie Rivere, Mike Reina
JACKSON - Team Kafton figured if they kept hitting the 
Council candidate Michael Kaftonopposition with gypsy moths, taxes and Mayor Mark Seda's salary increase, they could beat incumbent GOP Councilwoman Emily Ingram and her running mates on Election Day.
In a few hours, they will learn the effectiveness of their repeated mail attack pieces coupled with five debate forums in which former Democratic Mayor Michael Kafton and his running mates kept pointing to Ingram's alliance with Seda.
"He's working the senior communities hard," campaign spokesman Pat Politano said of Kafton. "He's wandering everywhere. Mike's been all over town."
In the face of a well organized Ocean County Republican Organization behind Ingram and her team, Kafton must depend on senior votes to win. Low voter turnout among Jackson's sizeable senior population will not be a good sign for the former mayor.
Perhaps in anticipation of the Kafton campaign's efforts to communicate Ingram's ties to the mayor, Ingram and her allies put out a mailer depicting Kafton and his team as puppets of Gov. Jon Corzine.
But Politano says the all-Republican Ingram ticket contrasts poorly with Kafton's ticket, which includes independent Republican Mike Reina as part of a good faith nod to blended government.
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October 14, 2008
"They would never put me through. So this one time in September I called and said, 'Is Jon there?' And the lady says, 'Who is calling?' And I say "George.' She says, "George who?' I say, "George Norcross.' Right away I was talking to Jon Corzine. I asked him, 'How can you take a call and talk to George Norcross but not the average New Jersey citizen?'" -- West Deptford GOP candidate Michael Krawitz, who pretended to be South Jersey Democratic leader George Norcross in order to reach Gov. Jon Corzine.
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Even without the senior
Even without the senior communities, the Kafton team beat the Ingram team hands down. Why? Because the Kafton team won the campaign on facts and the Ingram team lost the campaign because they ran a dirty campaign which turned off the voters. Congratulations Mike, you deserve this!
I'm glad it's over
It has been a long campaign, and I'm glad it's over. I have been called everything from a "nice old lady who should be let out to pasture" to a "spendthrift who raised the budget 300% while on the Board of Education in Merrick Long Island." I don't know where that figure came from, but even if it were true, it was over a quarter of a century in time. I hope to serve all of the people of Jackson, and I hope fences can be mended. I know I will try very hard to work with everyone.