Election challenge over, but Levchuk and Vaules trade charges over residency
OCEAN CITY — At the beginning of last week, Amie Vaules withdrew her challenge of the Third Ward City Council election results, making incumbent Jody Levchuk’s narrow May 14 victory final, but the two amped up their charges about residency in dueling press releases later in the week.
Vaules announced July 22 that she would forgo a July 23 Superior Court date to try to overturn Levchuk’s 402-400 win in the ward elections. She said the two absentee ballots she needed were not going to be counted.
Part of her challenge also centered around contesting the residency of Levchuk’s brother, Randy, but that point became moot when she saw she couldn’t get the absentee ballots to even the vote tally at 402-402. If those ballots were counted in her favor and she successfully disqualified Randy Levchuk’s vote, Vaules could have won 402-401.
Levchuk was angry about Vaules’ decision, saying he wanted his day in court and promising a big news story to come. That promise was fulfilled Thursday, July 25, when he issued a press release saying Vaules wasn’t being accurate about her reasons and claiming she actually isn’t a resident of Ocean City.
In return, Vaules posted her own response about her residency, including a copy of her New Jersey driver’s license, and again challenged Randy Levchuk’s right to vote in Ocean City.
Levchuk’s attorney
levels accusation
In Levchuk’s July 25 press release, his attorney, Tim Howes, wrote that “Amy (sic) Grigioni-Vaules isn’t telling the public the real reason she withdrew her challenge to the Ocean City Third Ward City Council election result.” He said one ballot came in after the deadline and another was rejected because the signature didn’t match.
“Vaules was concealing the real reasons for her withdrawal, which had to do with the problems with her own residence,” Howes wrote.
After defending Randy Levchuk’s vote, saying he owns and lives in a home in Ocean City, “as he has his entire adult life,” he attacked Vaules’ residency.
“Our investigation uncovered real questions about the failed candidate’s own residence. She drives a car with a Florida license plate and owns a home in Florida. The kicker is that Ms. Vaules and her husband elected the Homestead Exemption on the Florida home, giving her a property tax break available only to Florida residents. Under Florida law, her primary residence is in Florida,” Howes wrote.
Levchuk then wrote it was unacceptable his brother was targeted: “The unwarranted scrutiny and public mockery we’ve endured are beyond shameful. While I am relieved that this challenge has been dropped, I am frustrated that we were denied our day in court to defend my name and my family’s reputation and clear up these false accusations.”
Vaules responds
Vaules immediately refuted his claims in her own press release posted to her website, amieforcouncil.com.
She listed nine reasons, saying she wanted to “clarify the facts.”
Her reasons included being born and raised in New Jersey and living here her entire life; a copy of her New Jersey driver’s license showing her residence as 71 W. 18th St., Ocean City, a license issued in 2021 that expires in 2025; that her family has owned property in the Third Ward since 1989; and that she and her husband have owned two homes in the ward since moving there full-time in 2018.
“Mr. Levchuk’s assertion that I am not a resident of Ocean City is both absurd and unfair to the voters of the Third Ward,” she wrote.
In addition, she added she operates businesses in the state and pays business and personal taxes in New Jersey annually; has been involved in organizing community events, has voted from her residence and never in another state, and that she and her husband do own property and some vehicles registered in Florida, but drives a vehicle registered in New Jersey.
“Although my husband and I own property in Florida, it is not my home of record, and I am not registered to vote there. I live and vote in Ocean City. The fact that the property was homesteaded years prior to living in Ocean City, has absolutely nothing to do with my residency,” she wrote.
Vaules said she was not attacking any member of Levchuk’s family and that the inquiry was only about verifying Randy Levchuk’s residence at 2 Bayonne (Place) in the Third Ward, “the residence of Jody Levchuk. A residence he clearly did not live at. I have provided documentation that I live at 71 West 18th St., I have found no documentation that Randy lives at 2 Bayonne Place.”
She reiterated the residency matter “remains unresolved” and that she dropped her challenge when it became clear the ballots would not affect the election results.
“I have always aimed to conduct my campaign with honesty and transparency, and I refuse to engage in the type of behavior Mr. Levchuk seems to thrive on,” she wrote. “It is shameful that an elected official chooses to focus his time on false witch hunts instead of serving his community. I appreciate the support of the voters of the Third Ward and I am committed to serving this wonderful community with integrity in the future.”
According to the Cape May County Department of Elections, eligibility to vote in an election is based on three factors: being a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years of age and a resident of the county 30 days before the election.
Cape May County Clerk Rita Rothberg verified Monday there is a 30-day residency requirement to be eligible to vote in a municipal election. However, she noted questions arose in the Second Ward Ocean City election in 2020 about requirements for City Council candidates.
Rothberg said it was determined that a person had to be a resident for 12 months to be a candidate in Ocean City.
Levchuk was sworn into office July 1 for a four-year term with the other ward winners, Terry Crowley Jr., Keith Hartzell and Dave Winslow, and Sean Barnes, who won the race to fill the remaining two years on an at-large seat.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff