By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
Republicans held onto all three seats in the 2nd Legislative District in the General Election Tuesday and managed to oust Democrat Eric Scheffler as Atlantic County sheriff.
For the Senate seat, incumbent Vincent Polistina took 53 percent of the votes, beating Democrat challenger Caren Fitzpatrick. Republican Assemblywoman Claire Swift and Assemblyman Don Guardian beat Alfonso Harrell and Elizabeth Bender, garnering 28 percent and 29 percent of the votes, respectively.
Republican Dennis Levinson will be back for four more years as Atlantic County’s executive. Levinson garnered more than 60% of the votes over Democrat challenger Joyce Pratt.
Republicans won two at-large seats on the Atlantic County Board of County Commissioners. Incumbent John W. Risley Jr. and newcomer Joyce Burns topped Democrat challengers Kim O’Brien and Habib Rehman.
The big upset in county politics was Joe O’Donoghue’s victory over incumbent Sheriff Eric Scheffler. O’Donoghue, the self-proclaimed “bring back law enforcement” candidate, garnered nearly 53 percent of the votes over Scheffler.
Here are the unofficial results according to NJ.com for the Somers Point City Council race.
Republican Dennis Tapp won the mayoral race in Somers Point with 1,545 votes, beating Democratic challenger, Susannah Morgan Slaughter, who garnered 915 votes.
In Ward 1, incumbent Republican Councilman Richard L. DePamphilis III retained his seat with 746 votes against Democratic opponen Ann Marie Gibbs, who received 516 votes.
In Ward 2, Republican Charles J. Haberkorn won with 596 votes. He defeated Democratic incumbent Karen Bruno, who received 530 votes.
The results are unofficial until certified by the Atlantic County Board of Elections. The county reported Wednesday that there are 988 ballots that still need to be processed.
