Jenny Mundell wins primary race for Bloomfield mayor

Jenny Mundell has defeated incumbent Mayor Ted Gamble in the primary race for township mayor and secured the Democratic Party line for the November vote.

Mundell received 2,605 votes, or 57 % of the total, to Gamble’s 1,934 votes, which was 43 % of the total.

In the one contested race for township council, Monica Charris Tabares defeated Rodney P. Cauthen for the Democratic Party line. The latest results available showed that Tabares received 3,027 votes, 70 percent of the total, to Cauthen’s 1,307 votes, which was 30 percent of the total. Approximately 95 percent of the votes had been tallied. The race was for an unexpired term.

The primary winners face Republican challengers in the November general election. 

The winner of the mayoral race will serve the final year of an unexpired mayoral term. 

Gamble was elected councilman in 2016 and appointed temporary mayor Jan. 22. Mundell was appointed May 2017 to the council and elected to a full-term that year. 

Gamble ran under the Democrats United for Change and Integrity banner. He said his was a grassroots campaign.

Mundell ran on the Essex County Democratic Committee ticket. She is the vice-president of the RWJ University Hospital Foundation.

Gamble issued a statement Wednesday afternoon conceding the election and saying the results were not what he had wanted but he was proud of his campaign.

“For the first time in 8 years residents had a choice for their locally elected officials—that is in itself a  victory for democracy,” Gamble said. “Residents got to hear from candidates in a moderated forum.”

Gamble said he would continue to do what is best for Bloomfield through December and beyond through volunteer efforts. 

“While many residents were engaged in this primary election and voted there was a much larger portion of Bloomfield residents who did not,” Gamble said. “Historically, low voter turnout has benefited  the political machines, allowing them to maintain control with minimal opposition.”

  bloomfield, Jenny Mundell, Mayor