Tim Dougherty

MORRISTOWN - The happiest Democrat in Morris County.

That would be Tim Dougherty, who on Tuesday night won the Morristown mayor's race with 64.62% of the vote on a night when every municipality went for home county gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie by large margins with the exception of Dover, Victory Gardens and Morristown.

Doherty took pride in the fact that he won without going negative on his opponent, local businessman Jimmy Gervasio. 

"I told (campaign strategist Barrett) Tommy I'm not putting out one piece of negative literature," said the mayor-elect. "Why? I figured somebdy's gotta start doing it that way. Voters want to hear about what you're going to do."

In the primary, Dougherty built a coalition among African Americans, progressives, Latinos and downtown business people to crush veteran Morristown political animal Mayor Donald Cresitello.

Mayor Donald Cresitello, left, and his conqueror, Tim Dougherty

MORRISTOWN - Members of his own party have implored Mayor Donald Cresitello to shelve the ego and endorse the man who beat him in the Democratic Primary, Zoning Board Chairman Tim Dougherty.

"Donny, what the hell are you doing?" says one enraged Democratic Party member. "Take it like a man. You lost."

But as Dougherty squares off against Republican Jim Gervasio in a traditionally Democratic municipality, which nonetheless sits one town removed from GOP gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie's backyard in Mendham Township, Cresitello's dug in, dead set against lending any political heft to his conqueror, who buried him in June by a 62% to 37% margin.

Morristown mayoral candidate Jim Gervasio doesn't know whether the presence of GOP gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie will help him as he attempts to disrupt Democratic Party rule in the county seat heart of Christie's home base. 

"I think it's too early to tell," said Gervasio. "Hopefully more Republicans would come out to vote than usual. Party loyalists will vote top to bottom, especially if it's a really close race. If he maintains his lead, he could help me. Would I campaign with him (Christie)? Absolutely."

Gervasio, a local businessman and Morristown Parking Authority commissioner, is in a contest with Zoning Board chair Tim Dougherty, who defeated Mayor Donald Cresitello in the Democratic Primary. 
 
"My main issues are taxes and safety and the impact of development on quality of life," said Gervasio, who does not believe Cresitello followed a transparent process while advancing numerous development projects in Morristown.

Mayor Donald Cresitello, left, and Zoning Board Chairman Tim Dougherty at their debate the week before Election Day.

Certainly, someone running for re-election this year might be comforted by special case asterisks in those contests where challengers upset sitting mayors or council people.

But consider the name politicians who lost over the course of May and June municipal cycles, or found the terrain too tough to run again, or barely won re-election, and it looks like treacherous territory for incumbents in a gubernatorial election year.

Two of last week's losers - Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello (buried by Tim Dougherty, 62.46 to 37.48%) and Edison Mayor Jun Choi (who lost, 50.70 to 47.79% contest to Councilwoman Toni Ricigliano) - arrived at their re-election bids with their own particular challenges.

In or around elected office for over 30 years, Cresitello possesses institutional knowledge and insider connections that helped as he kept Morristown's tax rate stable over the course of his most recent four-year term. But he also asked for pay raises for himself, which the council refused, targeted undocumented workers in his crackdown of apartment house stacking, and considered placing a public works' garage in Ward 2, which empowered his opponent to build on a base of residents who felt disrespected.

Tim Dougherty on Election Day

MORRISTOWN - Tim Dougherty's team figured the election hinged on voters in the 2nd Ward, where African-American leaders in the campaign's waning hours made targeted calls from Dougherty campaign headquarters.

Mayor Donald Cresitello's people were working the phones, too.

"But you look at us, at our operation, we've got a people's campaign," said Dougherty, an engineer at the Prudential Center and Zoning Board chairman, who forged a political alliance with proven vote-generator At-Large Councilwoman Michelle Harris-King.

Mayor Donald Cresitello operates in his campaign HQ war room on Election Day.

Both campaigns said the action would come down to a battle in the 2nd ward, which Mayor Donald Cresitello won four years ago by 150 votes, on his way to winning the election overall by 200 votes.

Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello, left, and challenger Tim Dougherty

MORRISTOWN – This single event Democratic Primary showdown at the Alexander Hamilton School between Mayor Donald Cresitello and Zoning Board member Tim Dougherty hinges early and heavily on contrast. 

At the “go” signal from the League of Women Voters moderator, Dougherty comes right out of his chair and starts wailing on Cresitello: the town has a leadership problem and decisions are being made for personal gain, not for the good of the town.

“My vision as mayor includes you,” Dougherty, a 50-year old chief engineer at the Prudential Center, tells the crowd. “As mayor, I will listen to Morristown. As President Kennedy said, ‘Change is the law of life.’”

Cresitello, 63, a contractor seeking his second straight term in office, hammers right back when he goes to the podium. The mayor has said throughout this contest that his challenger doesn’t have the “business acumen” to run a complex town like this one.

Cresitello says he’s different. Competent.

“I am qualified to be your mayor because of my experience,” he says. Forty-five years in private business. Over 30 years in government.”

Tim Dougherty, right, with At-Large Councilwoman Michelle Harris-King and Kevin Gsell

Property services union 32BJ SEIU (Service Employees International Union) has voted to endorse Zoning Board Chairman Tim Dougherty for mayor of Morristown, along with his running mates Councilwoman Michelle Harris-King and Council candidate Kevin Gsell.

“When we endorsed Mayor Donald Cresitello in 2005 we had high hopes for his term in office, but his anti-immigrant policies are not only an insult to the millions of hard-working newcomers to this state, but they also run counter to the values of 32BJ,” said Kevin Brown, 32BJ SEIU New Jersey area director.  “We believe immigrants, regardless of their status shouldn’t feel afraid to live in their own homes for fear of harassment.  They should be given an opportunity to come out from the shadows and provided with a legal path to citizenship without the fear of being persecuted.”  

Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello in his campaign HQ.

In one of the hardest fought campaigns of the season, a once sleepy-eyed contest has boiled over into a leafy warzone as Mayor Donald Cresitello seeks re-election against Zoning Board Chairman Tim Dougherty in the heart of Morris County.  

A 63-year old political animal who told the public he only intended to serve one term as Morristown's chief executive, then sheepishly couldn’t say no to the chance to pursue a second, Cresitello has proudly presided over three straight budgets in which he raised taxes zero, zero, and 1.7%. There’s also a lot of ongoing private sector development in Morristown, providing a striking contrast to much of the rest of the country. 

On the downside, Cresitello tried to give himself a raise on several occasions, getting banged up by his own council in the process. He also couldn’t resist an opportunity to run for higher office, jumping quixotically onto a stage in the Democratic Senate Primary last year in a showing that earned him ten percent of the primary vote. And arguably most infamously, he cracked down on undocumented worker stacking in town while leaning rightwardly into the open arms of CNN curmudgeon Lou Dobbs, who fed the mayor national news coverage. Dougherty’s targeting that episode wherever he can, banking on progessives’ resistance to Cresitello on that front in particular in a Democratic Party Primary. 

Tim Dougherty

MORRISTOWN - The mayoral campaign of Tim Dougherty plans to lay down another round of mail on Thursday, reminding voters of Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello’s unsuccessful efforts to obtain pay raises for himself.

Dougherty’s mail has already zapped Cresitello on what they assert  is his advocacy of “overdevelopment” in Morristown and his collection of two public pensions, one for his job as mayor and the other for his work with the Schools Construction Corporation (SCC).

Battling to win his second straight term as mayor and the third mayoral term of his career, Cresitello has launched his own counter-offensive, objecting to work Doughtery did on his home without obtaining the required municipal permits, suggesting that the zoning board chairman improperly used the advantage of his office.