Third Ward race decided by two-vote margin in results posted today
Editor’s note: This story was updated May 22 after the Cape May County Clerk’s Office announced new results of the May 14 municipal election.
OCEAN CITY — Incumbent Jody Levchuk prevailed in his Third Ward race for City Council against challenger Amie Vaules by a two-vote margin, 402-400, according to official results posted Wednesday afternoon, May 22, at capemaycountyvotes.com.
Sean Barnes was the clear winner of the at-large race, beating former councilman Michael DeVlieger with a lead that stood at 1,836 to 1,297.
Turnout was about a third for the election; out of 9,466 registered voters, 3,274 cast ballots, according to data reported Wednesday, May 22, at capemaycountyvotes.com. That was a turnout of 34.59 percent.
Certification is scheduled for Thursday, May 23.
In the Fourth Ward, incumbent David Winslow defeated challenger Cecilia Gallelli-Keyes, 531 to 392, and in the Second Ward, former councilman Keith Hartzell will return to return to council after beating Paul Stryker 364 to 312.
The Third Ward was a tossup the night of the election and for the past week, with Levchuk ahead by three votes over Vaules as of Friday.
Levchuk, calling his narrow victory “a huge win for Ocean City,” said he and Vaules were at the Cape May County Board of Elections as the additional ballots were counted.
“The only thing I know was positive two, plus two. My fingers are going to be stuck in the peace sign for the next four years,” Levchuk said early Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s a huge win for Ocean City,” he said. “I’m going to continue to do what I do, take people’s calls and help them with any challenges they have. The number one priority is always to be there for constituents — taxpayers, second home-owners, businesses, whoever has some sort of challenge with Ocean City.
“As far as agendas moving forward, I absolutely have things in mind that I would like to see happen,” he added. “It’s nothing I haven’t really spoken about for the past couple of years. My first priority will be getting to know some of the new members of City Council and see where the chips may fall.”
“I look forward to July. July is when we reorganize. I’ll see how it builds.”
Vaules was graceful in defeat.
“I am very proud of how I ran the campaign and the team of people I had around me supporting me,” she said early Wednesday afternoon. “We kept it positive, learning what’s important to the people of the community and the Third Ward. Jody ran a great race and same as me, kept it positive.”
Vaules said she hasn’t decided about a recount, noting she would make that decision within the next day or so, “but I don’t believe I would contest the results of the election once they’re official.”
In the First Ward, incumbent Terry Crowley Jr. ran uncontested and received 675 votes.
According to the Cape May County website, capemaycountyvotes.com, and Ocean City Clerk Melissa Rasner, the results posted Tuesday evening, May 14, included the vote-by-mail ballots received by the Board of Elections before the polls closed and the Election Day voting machine tally. The last update to those results was Wednesday, May 22, when numbers varied a little.
Not included in the unofficial results Election Day evening were vote-by-mail ballots mailed on or before Election Day but not yet received, vote-by-mail ballots for which “cure letters” have been issued and provisional ballots. Four of the candidates — Barnes, Stryker, Vaules and Winslow — ran as an unofficial slate.
DeVlieger was elected three times to City Council in the First Ward, but left office partway through his third term in 2021.
Barnes won the two years remaining on the at-large position that was vacated when councilwoman Karen Bergman resigned to take over as supervisor of the Howard S. Stainton Senior Center.
Barnes said he was happy that he was elected by a wide margin.
“I put a lot of work into it and overall was happy with the results. I was glad to see that the message got out and I’m looking forward to serving the people of Ocean City,” he said.
The councilman-elect said he wants “to hit the ground running.”
Barnes said what seemed to resonate most with voters is that they wanted “common sense in city government again. They want to see good representation. I think I got that message across, that I work for the residents of Ocean City.
“And a positive outlook for our town. They didn’t want to see the negativity. They have an independent voice now …. People were just excited to see change in city government,” Barnes added.
He said he doesn’t have an agenda. He noted council just approved the budget, but that is something he plans to keep an eye on.
Barnes added the environment was a big part of his campaign so he will pay attention to any offshore development. “I’m not a proponent of the wind farms, so I want to make sure our beaches stay clean and pristine. I don’t want to see the industrialization of our ocean,” he said.
Barnes said he hopes that “wherever we land we can work together and stay focused on the issues. Clearly I want us all to recognize who we work for — that’s the residents of Ocean City. Any preconceived political aspirations need to be set aside so we can focus on our residents, our neighbors. If we all stay focused on that, we’ll be an effective city government.”
In the Second Ward, Hartzell was facing businessman Stryker.
Hartzell served as an at-large councilman for 16 years before running unsuccessfully for mayor against incumbent Jay Gillian in 2022.
“I’m ecstatic. I couldn’t be happier,” Hartzell said, noting he worked hard for his votes.
“I love the ward. It’s a dream job of mine to get. I always wanted to represent the Second Ward, but the first time I considered running there were already five people running,” Hartzell said. Inevitably he ran for at-large council and won and served for four terms.
“I love the ward because it is Fourth to 12th streets and I can walk it,” he said. “It really is a Norman Rockwell painting. It’s a Mayberry downtown. ‘Andy Griffith’ is my favorite TV show, so it doesn’t take much to figure out how much I love it.”
“We have the least amount of development right now. We have a historic district that needs to be protected,” he said.
“I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and work with everybody.”
Hartzell said his priorities are going to be “parking, parking, parking. I will be looking for things that will help parking including changes in zoning. I’ll be looking hard at our ordinances to see if there are ways to increase parking without overly affecting development.” Asked about the new composition of council, Hartzell said he’s “just tickled pink to be there. I can’t wait to work with everybody.
“If everybody loves Ocean City, and I think they do, we should be able to find ways to make it better together,” he said. “I’m looking to do things that make sense to everyone. That’s my goal.”
Gallelli-Keyes served 11 years on the Ocean City Board of Education.
Winslow was first appointed to the Fourth Ward seat when Bobby Barr resigned to become a member of the Cape May County Board of County Commissioners. He was subsequently elected to the position but has not yet served a full term.
“I was pleased with the outcome. I stayed true to a positive campaign and it went well. It was a lot of work and a lot of people worked with me to get the vote out and get the people to understand what I was about,” Winslow said. “I think we got our message out. We were professional and stayed positive throughout.”
He added he wants to continue some of the projects that have been started, including flood mitigation for the Fourth Ward, the 34th Street gateway into the resort “to get that part spruced up” and the issue with construction trailers and boats being parked on streets. “We want to make sure we have an ordinance that fits in with the community lifestyle and we’re not overrun by them, but also understand contractor rights and needs. We have to come up with an equitable solution,” he said.
Winslow said he believes the members of council want to work together.
“I’m willing to work together with anybody on council. I think if we work together, we can get things done.”
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff