After a stormy campaign, all quiet at the polls
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After a stormy campaign, all quiet at the polls

By NJJN Staff November 3, 2010, 12:00 am Edit
Voters at the Union Y and at School 12 on Magie Avenue in Elizabeth, like elsewhere in the Central area, encountered little of the crowding reported in some parts of the country. Photos by Elaine Durbach
Voters at the Union Y and at School 12 on Magie Avenue in Elizabeth, like elsewhere in the Central area, encountered little of the crowding reported in some parts of the country. Photos by Elaine Durbach

With little of the inter-party drama that has marked races elsewhere, it was smooth sailing for most voters in the Central area on voting day. At polling stations like School 12 on Magie Avenue in Elizabeth, or at the YM-YWHA of Union County in Union, traffic was light and quick, but the thinking echoed trends voiced elsewhere.

While some people seemed comfortable supporting familiar faces they have gotten to know in cycle after cycle of local elections, others were blithely deciding to vote down the line against the establishment.

One man at School 12 said, “I can’t remember all the names of the people who are running, I just know that they’ve been around for a long time and I think we need a change. I would like to see term limits brought in, no matter which party is in power.”

A woman at the Y said, “I know it’s going to be tough — and I don’t want to see anyone losing their jobs — but I’m voting for the people I think will cut spending. We can’t carry on spending what we don’t have.”

If those people were voting Republican, Larry Lerner of Warren was one of those supporting the Democrats. He voted early; on Election Day he was in Israel, in the Knesset, among those honored for their efforts to free Soviet Jewry decades ago. But speaking by phone from Jerusalem, he was still eager to know the outcome of the District 7 contest between incumbent Republican Congressman Leonard Lance and his Democratic challenger, Ed Potosnak, whom he had supported.

“I suppose I’m going to have to wait until Thursday to see the International Herald-Tribune,” he said.

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