Third time's the charm for Zimmer

Wednesday, November 07, 2007 Jersey Journal

HOBOKEN - Dawn Zimmer was elected to the 4th Ward City Council seat in the "do-over" balloting last night, defeating Christopher Campos in a special election called after both candidates agreed to set aside the results of the June runoff.

Zimmer got 1,070 votes to Campos' 956, including absentee ballots. There are 41 so far uncounted provisional ballots, not enough to affect the outcome.

"I did it! I'm stunned," Zimmer said by cell phone last night on her way to her victory party. "I can say that I truly didn't know that this would happen when I gave up my seat. I'm grateful to my supporters, I'm overwhelmed by the amount of support I received by everyone in the 4th Ward and Hoboken."

Campos, who went to a bar on Washington Street with his supporters after the results came in, conceded defeat about an hour and a half after the polls closed.

"I want to congratulate Dawn, but I feel like the luckiest man alive," Campos said. "I hope she represents the entire community to the fullest of her ability, as I've tried to do."

Campos served as the 4th Ward councilman until his term ended on June 30. He led the balloting among four candidates in the regular May election, then lost to Zimmer by eight votes in a June runoff.

He contested the results, and a battle in the courts and in the media to capture the support of the ward's 6,111 registered voters became more and more intense.

Campos served 134 subpoenas, alleging, among other charges, that absentee ballots were handled improperly and even were illegally filled out by Zimmer's campaign workers. He also pointed to Zimmer wrapping 300 $1 lottery tickets inside campaign fliers, saying it amounted to bribery. Zimmer dismissed those claims as technicalities, saying that the challenges amounted to voter intimidation.

State Superior Court Judge Maurice J. Gallipoli vacated the results in September after Zimmer agreed to step down from the seat and compete in yesterday's election.