May 13, 2008 - 4:43pm
News

Kafton and company look to seal deal against the GOP

JACKSON - Team Kafton figured if they kept hitting the Council candidate Michael KaftonCouncil 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.   

Max Pizarro is a PolitickerNJ.com Reporter and can be reached via email at max@politicsnj.com.