By Kevin Coughlin
Unofficial primary results late Tuesday showed that presidential candidate Donald Trump was the favorite of 75 percent of Morris County Republican voters. Ohio Gov. John Kasich garnered 18 percent and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz got 6 percent; both men remained on the ballot even though they dropped out of the race.
On the Democrats’ side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton got 59 percent of the vote in Morris County, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders had 41 percent, with 90 percent of votes tallied, according to NJ Spotlight.
Statewide, Trump got 81 percent (51 delegates) to 13 percent for Kasich and 6 percent for Cruz, according to the Associated Press. The AP reported that Clinton got 63 percent (69 delegates) while Sanders got 37 percent (44 delegates).
So how did Greater Morristown vote?
Unofficial results from the Morris County Clerk’s Office showed….
Morristown
Clinton 1,277 (62 percent)
Sanders 772 (36 percent)
Trump 446 (70 percent)
Kasich 140 (22 percent)
Cruz 38 (6 percent)
Morris Township
Clinton 1,836 (68 percent)
Sanders 858 (32 percent)
Trump 1,545 (66 percent)
Kasich 606 (26 percent)
Cruz 157 (7 percent)
Incumbent Committeeman Peter Mancuso defeated GOP challenger Clinton Ernest Costanzo, 1,558 (75 percent) to 522 (25 percent).
Morris Plains
Clinton 283 (58 percent)
Sanders 207 (42 percent)
Trump 426 (66 percent)
Kasich 172 (27 percent)
Cruz 34 (5 percent)
In other contested Morris County elections, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.), who seeks a 12th term, trounced Republican challenger Rick Van Glahn, who was making his second run at unseating the incumbent.
In the fall, Frelinghuysen will face Democrat Joseph Wenzel, who drubbed two other Democrats on Tuesday.
James Gannon easily beat J0hn Sierchio to become the Republican candidate to succeed Sheriff Ed Rochford, who is retiring.
Three incumbent Republican freeholders — Thomas Mastrangelo, Kathy DeFillippo and Douglas Cabana–prevailed over four challengers.
They will square off in November against Democrats Mitch Horn, Rozella Clyde and John Von Achen, who beat out two Democrats on the Sanders ticket. (One of them, Carl Fenske, is from Morristown.)
Interesting to note that Clinton voters out numbered the Trump voters in both the Town and the Township. Even in Morris Plains, where Trump received more votes than Clinton, the total of Democrats who voted, out numbered the Republicans.