By BILL BARLOW/Special to the Sentinel
UPPER TOWNSHIP – Voters returned Curtis Corson to Township Committee last week by a comfortable margin of more than 1,000 votes.
All returns were not in on Wednesday morning, but neither candidate doubted the outcome at that point.
“I’ve got to believe it’s a win,” Corson said. “It can’t be overcome.”
His opponent, Democrat John Amenhauser, joked in a separate interview that it was one point on which the two agree.
“I knew I had a hell of an uphill climb going into this thing,” Amenhauser said. “There might be a couple of hundred votes left, but not enough to change anything.”
He said he was disappointed in the result, but added he plans to remain involved in local politics.
“You don’t get into this and work for 10 months hoping to lose,” he said.
“It was a good election,” Corson said.
He said Amenhauser congratulated him on election night, when Corson had gathered at an Upper Township restaurant with some supporters.
“I shook his hand and he turned around and left,” Corson said.
According to the Cape May County Clerk’s Office, results updated Nov. 6 show Corson with 4,706 votes and Amenhauser with 3,229.
The vote means the township government will remain entirely Republican. The entire GOP ticket had a strong showing throughout Cape May County this year, with incumbent Freeholders Jeff Pierson, an Upper Township resident, and Will Morey fending off a challenge from Democrats Brendan Sciarra and Elizabeth Casey, while Republican incumbents in Lower and Middle Townships held their seats over Democratic challenges by wide margins.
There were also multiple seats that had no challenges, including the countywide offices of County Clerk and sheriff, where Rita Fulginiti and Sheriff Bob Nolan received support of better than 99 percent of the votes cast in those races.
Amenhauser said he came closer than some of the other Democratic challengers, as some saw deficits of more than 2,000 votes.
Fulginiti said voting went smoothly throughout Cape May County, with most voters mailing or dropping off their ballots in advance of Nov. 3, either by mail or at secured drop boxes in place around the county.
Because of COVID-19, which has seen a sharp increase this fall after easing for months over the summer, Gov. Phil Murphy ordered this year’s vote to take place primarily by mail. Ballots were sent to more than 75,000 voters, with close to 50,000 returned before the polls officially opened. The county looks likely to exceed 70 percent participation in the election. Fulginiti described the turnout as an historic high.
She did hear complaints about electioneering in Upper Township, however.
There were two polling places open on Tuesday in the township, where voters could drop off ballots they received in the mail or vote in person by filling out a provisional ballot. Amenhauser was outside one in the morning, while a supporter was outside the other, with signs supporting the candidate.
He said they remained at least 100 feet from the door of the polling location at all times, as required by law. According to Amenhauser, some voters expressed concern to him about armed security guards at the polling places.
The guards were hired by the township. Amenhauser had no concern about their presence, saying he did not see any interference with anyone heading to the polls. They, too, stayed outside of the polling place. There were security guards at the polling places in the primary vote this year as well, he said.
In a post to his campaign Facebook page, Corson congratulated U.S. Rep Jeff Van Drew and other Republican candidates.
“It is not my first win but it is one of the sweetest,” he wrote. “We faced a challenging opponent. Thanks to all the hard work by my campaign staff and volunteers we successfully met that challenge.”
On that page, Corson sharply criticized mail-in voting, alleging it would allow Democrats to steal the election.
Corson served 18 years on the Township Committee before he lost his seat in a primary race. He was appointed to the governing body in 2016 to fill in the remainder of Pierson’s term, who resigned from the board to serve on the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
Corson won a full term in 2017, outpolling Democratic and independent challengers.