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Magazzu wins re-election in crowded Cumberland County freeholder battle
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Freeholder Director and county Democratic Chairman Lou Magazzu was the top vote-getter in the freeholder race as he secured re-election Tuesday night.
Democratic Freeholder Nelson Thompson also won election to a one-year unexpired term on the board.
Lawrence Township Mayor Tom Sheppard was the lone Republican to win a freeholder seat, and breaks a Democratic monopoly on the board that will now have a 6-1 Democratic majority.
Magazzu, a 12-year incumbent, had faced close races before. In 2003, he barely squeaked out a win after appearing on a joint flier with then-Vineland Mayor Perry Barse and then-freeholder candidate Jim Rocco, both Republicans from Vineland, while his Democratic running mate, Donna Pearson, lost her race.
But never before had he - or almost anyone, for that matter, according to some New Jersey politics watchers - seen a race quite like this one: Republicans, Democrats and an independent slate of former Democratic freeholders with more combined freeholder experience than the other two tickets combined.
"This is the worst campaign that I've ever had to go through in my life, because it wasn't a campaign," Magazzu said.
Instead, the race became a referendum on Magazzu, with Republicans and the independent slate targeting him.
And Magazzu won.
The independents said they had two goals heading into election night: to win - a long shot considering their small campaign purse and status as independents - and to get their message out to the public. They also had no problem playing the spoiler role.
"When we decided to run, it leveled the playing field a little bit," independent candidate and former Democratic freeholder Jane Christy said. "It gave the voters the chance to look at the whole picture. This way we were able to give (Magazzu) a little bit of angst."
Christy, independent candidates and former freeholders Bruce Peterson and Jennifer Swift ran without the kind of funding or political party organization of their Democratic and Republican opponents. Each major party slate raised more than four times as much money as the Independent Leaders ticket did. The three had name recognition on their side, but they did not have nearly as many campaign signs or visibility during a campaign. Add to that the fact that they were buried deeper on the ballot than their opponents. Still, they pitched themselves as a responsible and ethical ticket that knew how to sensibly manage a county government, the only ones willing to lead opposition to what they felt were Magazzu's abuses during his influential tenure on the freeholder board, such as his efforts to take over the Cumberland County Improvement Authority.
In the end, it was not enough. They each garnered a few thousand votes. Whether that made the difference for Sheppard is unclear, but he comfortably outpaced Democrat Wade Sjogren. Reppublican Rick Tonetta placed third in the race for the two three-year terms on the freeholder board.
Sheppard, Tonetta and Republican Sam Fiocchi ran a campaign largely targeted at Magazzu and the Democratic-controlled freeholder board as a whole. They criticized Democrats for overspending over the last seven years, during which the county tax levy approximately doubled to more than $80 million. They also proposed a series of reforms targeted at increasing transparency and accountability in government, ranging from televising freeholder meetings live online via streaming video and creating a searchable online database on county spending to requiring a referendum on any county borrowing of more than $7 million.
Sheppard said he hoped to work well with his soon-to-be Democratic colleagues on the freeholder board, and Magazzu pledged to treat him as he'd treat any other freeholder.
"You're maybe going to be the Devil's advocate," Sheppard said in describing what his role on the board might be. "You're going to be asking questions."
Magazzu, Thompson and Sjogren campaigned largely on a record of this year's tax cut and the success of big developments such as the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, for which Magazzu played a role in securing support prior to its construction. The county apportionment rate, from which towns' county tax rates are determined, is the lowest in 40 years. Magazzu also spent much of the campaign deflecting and sometimes ignoring his opponents' critiques, showing a far more reserved side than the witty and often happy combatant approach he sometimes displays during freeholder meetings.
For Thompson, the victory was one long coming. He had lost previous campaigns for freeholder, but not this time.
"Guess what? I finally won one, and it feels good," Thompson said.
Peterson cited the disparity in campaign funds for the independents loss, saying his group had about $12,000 to work with. The message that change is needed and current government officials, specifically Magazzu, needs to be watched, is out there, he said.
"(The campaign) started because we were anti-Lou, which was the impetus," Peterson said. "But things like a vo-tech school and a focus on open space in the county were things that we really wanted to accomplish."
Sheppard will replace Joe Riley on the board, who did not run for reelection this year after serving one term.
Staff writer Edward Van Embden contributed to this report.
Contact Daniel Walsh:
856-649-2074
Posted in Cumberland, Breaking, Politics on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 12:20 am
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