jamie barberio

Parsippany Town Hall

PARSIPPANY - Mayor Michael Luther four years ago won by 39 votes in a town of 50,000 against a Republican Party undermined by a civil war.

This year, the Democratic mayor's challenger, Councilman Jamie Barberio, believes he will win, in part because he trusts he has a better vision for Parsippany, but also because he helped weld his party back together and stands a better chance mechanically to drive voters into his column.

"There's not a single Republican official who doesn't back me," Barberio told PolitickerNJ.com. "One of my goals before I set out to run was securing their support. I knew I had to close the gap with every Republican I could think of." 

In a gubernatorial election year in particular, a unified GOP helps when one considers the numbers of registered voters in Parsippany: 6,860 Democrats versus 9,710 Republicans with 11,564 independents usuaully leaning reliably Republican.

Parsippany, the largest town in solidly Republican Morris County, has not had a Republican mayor in fourteen years.  In 2005, Democrat Michael Luther won his first term as mayor by a scant 39-vote margin - a contest that spent two years in court.  Luther faces Republican Councilman Jamie Barberio this fall.  If Luther wins, look for some Democrats to recruit him to run for State Senator in 2011 against the incumbent, Joseph Pennacchio (R-Montville).

Parsippany (pop. 50,649), is a town of ticket-splitters.  Despite Democratic victories in the last four mayoral races, Republicans have held a firm grip on the Township Council. Barack Obama and Frank Lautenberg both carried the town by more than a thousand votes in 2008.  Robert Menendez lost it by less than 100 votes in 2006, and Jon Corzine lost it by less than 700 votes in 2005.  But Republicans like Pennacchio and U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-Harding) carry the town easily as well.